Patrick Dempsey Tweets Eric Dane Spoiler [Photo]

Patrick Dempsey may have given away a potential “Grey’s Anatomy” spoiler when he tweeted a picture of Eric Dane’s character in a hospital bed.

According to On The Red Carpet, the photo was posted on July 30, but taken down by Dempsey at the request of NBC. In the photo, Dane is shown in a hospital bed unconscious. ABC announced in July that the actor who plays Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan in the popular drama would be leaving the next season.

The picture released by Dempsey shows that Dane’s character survive’s a plane crash, which was seen in the season finale in May, but rumors have said that his on-again-off-again girlfriend Lexie Grey doesn’t. Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes stated:

“When we start the season, we are ahead enough in time where we see the outcome of lots of things. And in the second episode of the season, there’s rewind – we go backwards – to where they’re still in the forest. So you see what happened and in the next episode, you see how we get there.”

Patrick Dempsey’s co-actor Eric Dane said of his decision to leave the show that:

“I am extremely grateful to everyone at ‘Grey’s,’ ABC and Shondaland for the experience and memories I have had over the course of this run. It has been wonderful to work alongside and learn from a creative force such as Shonda Rhimes.”

Entertainment Weekly notes that creator Shonda Rhimes went on to say of Dane that:

“It was a thing that Eric had been thinking about for a while, but it felt like the right time to him. I love Eric, and Eric and I have been working together for a very long time, so it was bittersweet. I’m happy he’s going to go on and do other things, but I’m really sad to not be able to work with him every day.”

Rhimes also warns that the Dempsey-leaked photo of Dane in a hospital bed does not necessarily mean that he stays alive. Will you be watching Grey’s Anatomy, starring Patrick Dempsey, on its season premier on September 27th?