Isaiah Washington PSA Will Air Tonight
The public service announcement from Isaiah Washington regarding the tolerance and acceptance of homosexuals will air tonight during repeats of Grey's Anatomy, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
Here's a quote from the ad Washington recorded on behalf of gay rights groups, which will run during the two-part "Six Days" this evening:
"Words have power. The power to express love, happiness and joy. They also have the power to heal. When you use words that demean a person because of their sexual orientation, race or gender, you send a message of hate. A very powerful message. But we all have the power to demand better from one another and from ourselves. We have the power to heal and change the world by the words we use."
Washington has gone to great lengths to make amends since coming under scrutiny for two incidents in which he referred to his gay co-star, T.R. Knight, by a derogatory slur.
While more people surely would have gotten to hear this positive message during last week's season finale, it's still appropriate for it to air during an episode of Grey's Anatomy and we're pleased that it is.
May 24th, 2007 11:04 AM
As a gay man I'm pissed the GLAAD and other gay groups would stoop so low to use Washington in a PSA. I don't believe for one minute that he has changed. It irritates me immeasurably and I think it's a giant step backwards for gay men and women. It just keeps the hatred alive. And I'll be the first to nominate Washington for an emmy for his performance on the PSA. What an actor!
May 24th, 2007 12:23 PM
Hey give the man a break PLEASE! Nobody is above mistake, and he is trying to make amends, what more do you want him to do?
May 24th, 2007 12:55 PM
My point was that GLAAD and other groups should not be using him in their PSAs. The decision to really just causes me to question the integrity of GLAAD. Honestly, I don't really care what Washington believes. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the right to free speech. I will keep watching Grey's because I love the show. HOWEVER, the letters of GLAAD stand for Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. Choosing to create and air a PSA starring someone who has defamed a gay man seems extremely bizarre to me. And trust me, Washington got a break. If he had bullied any other minority group he would not still be employed.
May 24th, 2007 1:35 PM
I HUGE GEREY'S FAN, I am a hardcore BANG fan so this is really difficult for me because over this IW's future on the show is in jeopardy, I still don't know if he will be back in S4 and will not know for a long time and since the S3 finale I am heartbroken and can't even bear the idea that BANG is over, but do you really think that if he had bullied any other minority group he would had been fired right away?
I am not American (as you can probably infer from my English) so this is really interesting for me to try and understand...
May 24th, 2007 2:27 PM
Posted May 22, Kristen on E! Stated IW is definately GONE
TR is staying!!!!
May 24th, 2007 3:00 PM
You mean this?
Gansiger in Dallas: Is Isaiah Washington leaving Grey's Anatomy?
I've now heard from various reliable sources that Isaiah has been taking meetings in New York and Los Angeles in search of a new job that would take place during the coming TV season, so it certainly appears that Isaiah's Grey's days are over. Insiders at ABC tell me "not everyone will be coming back" to Grey's this fall, and although T.R. Knight's fate was also left hanging in the balance after the season finale, I'm hearing he's gonna be back (gotta wrap up that love triangle, not to mention his betrothed is the new chief resident!) but like I said, Isaiah looks to be a goner. (Kinda makes that scene of Cristina ripping the shackle off her neck while sobbing "I'm free" and the Chief's lecture to Burke that he's "disappointed" in him this year all the more poignant, no?)
Please!
May 24th, 2007 5:18 PM
I'm sorry but I'm not believing for a mintue that he's changed.
May 24th, 2007 8:16 PM
so..does that mean that IW's gone? or not? cuz he's an incredible actor.
May 24th, 2007 9:01 PM
I think one has to be given the opportunity to change and I wonder if he's been given a fair chance to change. We are not in his heart so we have to judge base on the fact that he is trying. Imagine for an instant that a man who has played gay characters before may have simply made a mistake. We are all human and maybe are inability to forgive and take his apology at face value should be examined the same way he examined his temper and word choice.
May 24th, 2007 9:28 PM
No, continuing to hate is what keeps hatred alive.
May 25th, 2007 4:15 AM
This happen in October here we are seven months later debating the issue. I never did agree or will ever agree with what Isaiah did it was wrong. I also didn't agree with everything TR did after it happen. Let's not forget gossip because TR actually wasn't present when it was said. Who let it leak outside the four walls of where it happen for the press to have a field day with it. To me that is where the majority of the problem started. I don't think we got 100% of the truth anyway. It got physical between Patrick and Isaiah. People started calling Isaiah bad names. I like that old saying two wrongs don't make a right. I think MJ made a good point. What Isaiah said is not the only problem people have they have just made it the focal point.
May 25th, 2007 7:20 PM
TR was there when it happend. Isiaha brought it up again in Janurary and has brought it up many times since. Fake rehab, pulling himself out of the Emmy's this phoney PSA. The person who needs to let this die is Isiaha and he won't let that happen.
May 26th, 2007 10:40 AM
This entire chain of responses is so sad to me. First of all, I don't think Isaiah needed to change what is in his heart because I don't believe he ever was a homophobe. He used a bad word in anger and regretted it. I don't know anyone, myself included, who has not called someone a name or reacted to something in a way that I later regretted with words that I didn't really mean.
Isaiah is an African American man who as a boy watched his father gunned down in the streets of Houston, Texas. Was it racially motivated? I don't know. I do know that as an African American man growing up in the South at a volitile time in our country's history, he is a man who has more than likely been at the receiving end of slurs his entire life. He has not let it define who he is. He went out and did something extraordinary. He became a well respected and successful actor. I think for that reason he really did not understand the magnitude of the reaction to using this word in reference to TR Knight. I am sure he understands now.
It is probably hard to comprehend when you are not Black, that slurs aren't that uncommon and that there really is no public outcry or reprecussions most of the time unless it is someone very visible, such as the Don Imus case. This whole idea that if someone in the heat of an argument on a closed set had called him a racial slur they would have been fired is pure speculation because it would depend completely on Isaiah's reaction and the importance given to it. There are no laws against hateful comments. If so, many of the people who have posted their hatred towards Isaiah on this and other websites would be in jail.
From all accounts Isaiah is a passionate and intense person. It is sometimes hard to contaiin that passion particularly when it takes the form of anger. I think his rehab was about anger management not bigotry, because I don't believe he is now or ever was a bigot. Because he sincerely regretted that TR overheard his rant and was offended, I believe he did want to do something to underscore the negative impact of words that give messages of hate. The public service announcement was given with all good intentions at the request of GLAAD. I wish it could be accepted as that and as another public apology for using a word that was hurtful to many people. Isaiah contributed to the writing of this piece. I think the part where he says we should demand better from each other and from ourselves came from his heart.
May 26th, 2007 10:59 AM
Hi Jackie, I am sorry that you feel so strongly that Isaiah is trying to keep this whole thing in the media. I don't know why he would do that. The entire incident has been damaging to him both personally and professionally. TR was not on the set at the time of the argument and by TR's own account came out of where ever he was to see what was going on just in time to overheard Isaiah refer to him by a slur. Isaiah was not addressing him and didn't know he was there or that he could hear him. That doesn't make it right, but it is different that confronting TR and calling him a name. I do believe Isaiah was deeply sorry that he offended TR with his words. I can't see in his heart anymore than you can, but there is nothing in his past history to lead me to believe that he is a homophobe prior to this one incident of name calling.
In the case of the Golden Globes, Ted Casablanca from eonline asked him directly about the homophobic slur and he tried to set the record straight by saying that he didn't call TR the word, meaning he did not confront TR and call him a name. He didn't say he didn't use the word to refer to TR in his argument with Patrick Dempsey. It was a clumsy attempt to tell what happened and an embarrassement to everyone involve, most particulary to Isaiah. Please understand that Isaiah did not bring this up at the Golden Globes. He was asked about it directly.
We don't know what they were prepped to say by the Grey's production company if the situation arose. We do know that the Grey's cast went on Oprah right after the incident in October and everyone, TR included, said that it was all blown out of proportion and that apologies were made and received all around and that the cast was closer as a result of this incident.
Bonnie is right. This incident from October happened on a closed set. No one needed to be concerned with it other than those immediately involved. Incidents frequently happen on the sets of long running shows where people work long hours and spend too much time together. Why was this one made so public? Ask yourself who had something to gain from going public? Ask yourself who continues to agree to interviews about the incident and why that might be happening? I think you will see that it is not Isaiah who wants to talk about it or who stands to gain by it. The public service announcement was a commitment that he honored. Not a publicity stunt.