Determined Isaiah Washington Says That ABC "Fired the Wrong Guy"
"They fired the wrong guy," Isaiah Washington said today.
The former Dr. Preston Burke on ABC's hit series Grey's Anatomy told the Houston Chronicle that T.R. Knight should have been fired from the show.
Isaiah Washington was not offered a contract and thus let go from the show on June 7, a month before filming for the new season was to begin.
The actor has been slammed with negative publicity since October. That's when he allegedly used an anti-gay slur in reference to T.R. Knight in an on-set argument with co-star Patrick Dempsey.
The Houston native's interviews with the media since have been few.
"I have to clear my name," Isaiah Washington told the Chronicle in a telephone interview from the set of his new movie, The Least of These.
"I'll start from the beginning. I'm telling everything. So here's the truth."
Washington said T.R. Knight, who plays Dr. George O'Malley, stirred up the notion that the slur was targeted at him and created a negative work environment.
The embattled actor also alleged that T.R. Knight likely wanted a salary increase and a more substantive role for his character.
Knight, who acknowledged that he was gay after the incident, told Ellen DeGeneres in January that Washington used the slur against him and that "everyone (on the set) heard it."
"That's a lie," Washington said. "I used the word during a disagreement with Patrick. I apologized for that. We shook hands and went back to work."
Washington also said he is considering a lawsuit. "My livelihood, my honor and dignity and my name have been so challenged."
He said his firing was a big disappointment.
"I was not fired for making homophobic slurs," he said. "I did everything I said I would do. I offered to go to counseling, to do a PSA. I wanted everyone to know I was remorseful."
Washington said he asked to be released from his contract last fall, then again in January when he repeated the slur at the Golden Globes.
His use of the word at the awards ceremony was taken out of context, he says, stating that he was responding to a question from a reporter over whether he had used the slur.
He said he regrets that his actions overshadowed Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes' win for best TV series drama.
Washington first learned ABC would not renew his contract in a tearful, personal call from Shonda Rhimes.
"That was a shock," he said. "I did everything they told me to do, including not saying anything. Then they didn't renew my contract. It's not fair."
ABC executives declined to comment. The 43-year-old Washington said this was the first negative incident in his 20 years in Hollywood.
He said he made three errors in judgment: "Believing that the cast of Grey's Anatomy were like family; believing I had the freedom to express myself with family and that we could resolve our issues; and trusting ABC was going to take care of me. I'm not angry. I'm disappointed."
June 21st, 2007 2:31 PM
okay this is silly, but FIRST!
and I regret him doing this 2n interview.. it makes him look bad and angry...
I hope he would just let his fans do all the bashings =/
June 21st, 2007 2:37 PM
I think he is being honest and up front but it won't matter. People judged him just because they did'nt like him from the start. Other's because they just asumed what they read and heard was true. No I don't think he should have said what he did. But as much as I like TR an his character George I don't agree with how he handled it either. Gay's have a hard enough time as it is without one of their own acting like their afraid someone is going to find out. Stand up and be proud of who you are and what you chose for yourself. This started out as a verbal disagreement between Isaiah and Patrick. Funny how that one word Isaiah used is the only thing you hear about and apparently the only thing people remember. Only in America.
June 21st, 2007 2:46 PM
In response to the above post, how should TR have handled this? I think he was right to go on Ellen and expose IW as a liar for denying the use the F word.. Just because IW didn't say it to TR's face doesn't mean he didn't use it. I would also like to direct your attention to Isaiah's changing responses. At first he described himself as "mad as hell.." threatening lawsuits and what not when the news of his firing came out. Then, apparently under advisement from his PR handlers, he calmed down and started acting thoughtful, hoping ABC would reconsider their decision. Now as it appears he's a goner for good he's decided to show his true color. He physically assaults one fellow actor and verbally abuses another, and he has the gall to think they fired the wrong guy? I bow to his logic.
June 21st, 2007 2:49 PM
Can we just move on? PLEASE.........
June 21st, 2007 2:54 PM
Hi GA-Mer/Der4Ever&Ever, you said it, this could have happened only in this country.
And because now the only thing you hear about and so the only thing people remember is "They fired the wrong guy", I would like to suggest to evrybody to click on the actual link of the story and find out that Isaiah also said something else which obviously DOES NOT have any media coverage:
"When it turned into this all Isaiah is homophobic thing, I don't know how and I don't know why and I don't know when it became all about that.
I knew TR was gay, but I would never attack him because of his sexual orientation, that's stupid.
I've been working with lesbians and gay for 21 years in this business, in New York my first job was given to me by Diane (?), an African-American lesbian.
My whole existence has co-existed evenly and beautifully with individuals who happen to be gay, but more importantly immensely talented.
There's no way in my mind and in my heart, that I could be homophobic."
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/4907210.html
June 21st, 2007 4:35 PM
This is not about Isaiah and TR. This is not about the truth. This is about us people believing who and what we want to believe. This is about us, our judgments, our opinions, our takes on the matter. This is about who we want exonerated, who we want condemned.This is not only America. This is our world.
June 21st, 2007 4:47 PM
I know everyone has their opinion but I was wondering if anybody has learned anything from this ordeal?
June 21st, 2007 4:52 PM
yeah not to fuck with tr cuz hell get you fired
June 21st, 2007 4:58 PM
Isaiah is saying exactly what I have been saying since October. Why everyone jumped to believe TR Knight and automatically cast Isaiah as the bad guy had to do with the media's portrayal of the incident, Kinght's refusal to even entertain an apology or explanation, and ABC's demand that the actors involved not talk about the incident (which we know that TR and Katherine Heigl both did). I completely agree with Isaiah. If anyone should have been fired it should have been TR Knight for causing the huge media circus to begin with. An argument on a closed set should have remained private and someone not even involved in the conversation should have stayed out of it.
June 21st, 2007 4:58 PM
I feel sorry for IW, it was an argument with PD and had nothing to do with TR but because the word was used he felt the need to bring attention to himself and come out. I think that the whole situation has been taken to an unnesecary level in the media and thus has created the negative working environment.
June 21st, 2007 4:59 PM
You are so right, Bayfront, and unfortunately it once again calls into question the racial issue and the public's immediate assumption that the angry Black man must be in the wrong.
June 21st, 2007 4:59 PM
i completely agree with you burke backer well said. this entire situation is rediculous and a small quarrel between coworkers should never have come to this
June 21st, 2007 5:01 PM
OMG! MICHAELA!
you have the same name as me:)
te-he GREYS ROCK! but Isiah shouldnt of been fired:\
June 21st, 2007 5:02 PM
Thank you Michela. I read this too and wondered why no one believed him or even entertained the idea that he could have been misunderstood. It was a rush to judgment and condemnation. I guess that sells more magazines.
June 21st, 2007 5:04 PM
If he was lying, Billy. That is the question. I still maintain that he did not lie at the Golden Globes and that TR Knight took advantage of this opportunity to go on Ellen in a play for media attention and sympathy at the expense of Isaiah.
June 21st, 2007 5:06 PM
All I can say is it is about time that Isaiah has said something in his own defense. This has been an appallingly one sided presentation of supposed facts. Isaiah was not allowed to tell his side and TR went on television and made interviews in pro gay magazines to tell his. How many times do both Isaiah and Patrick have to say that this was not a physical assault. It never went beyond words according to all those present. By the way, neither TR nor Katherine Heigl, by their own admission, were present.
June 21st, 2007 5:38 PM
This is getting crazy. I think that at this point IW needs to let it go. If this is really what happened, then why was that not the story in the beginning. I have no idea what really happened that day, but if this was what really happened then why not have said that all along. I mean he denies that he said the word twice, then he did say the word but he is sorry, now it was not aimed at TK and TK made this whole situation what it is. That is a lot ot swallow. I do not buy it. I think that it would be best for all the people involved if they would just move on.
June 21st, 2007 5:39 PM
I can't help recalling these movies: To kill a mockingbird, A view to a kill, True crime. Truth is expedient, truth is relative. Media is selling the truth it wants to sell, whether distorted, biased or colored. IW was condemned at GG for denying using the F word, in his denial statement, he made the mistake of uttering the F word. The mere utterance makes him a homophobic, and a liar. That's the truth some media is selling. That's the truth his haters want to believe.
June 21st, 2007 5:42 PM
He kept quiet in keeping the silence code of the GA family. Even Shonda expressed this keeping it in the family. Too bad, not all in the family wanted to keep it within the family.
June 21st, 2007 6:11 PM
I think he's being a little ridiculous. He's just making himself sound like a total a-hole. 1) Even if he didn't direct the word at T.R., he shouldn't have said it in the first place, especially in the workplace. 2) He's saying that he only did the PSA and the other things just so he could keep his job which makes him sound like a total "donkey"
June 21st, 2007 6:50 PM
isiah is a jerk.and he is known in the indutry for being a hot head.this is not the first time he has done this on a set.and to blame t r knoght gees what a jerk,maybe he should truthfully take responsiblility for his actions
June 21st, 2007 6:54 PM
http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah5821.shtml
I think the statement about TR being a cooky character went too far.
June 21st, 2007 7:03 PM
This is not a 'racial issue' people...stop trying to make it one. He said something he shouldn't have, the Media jumped on it, he got fired.
NOW LET'S MOVE ON! You hear that, GA Insider????
June 21st, 2007 8:35 PM
This is about personal responsibility. IW should not have said what he said the first time and he sure as hell should have kept his mouth shut at the Golden Globes. Chances are, this would have passed relatively easy. But HE opened his mouth, HE used the slur, and HE is paying for it. It's as simple as that. Isaiah Washington made his own bed, and he seems to be having trouble laying in it.
June 21st, 2007 8:51 PM
Look people, IW just needs to take resposibility for what he said. Now he has all this heat and in addition got fired from a great show/salary, and wants to turn things around and say its tr fault. Come On!! I say deal with the consequences and move on its pathetic to turn around now!!!!!