Isaiah: T.R. Should Have Been Fired Instead

Isaiah Washington claims ABC "fired the wrong guy" from Grey's Anatomy and that they should have terminated T.R. Knight instead; Washington said he "was used" to raise former costar's profile

By Gina Serpe Jun 21, 2007 7:44 PMTags

Isaiah Washington is taking some parting shots on his way out the door from Seattle Grace.

In his most explicit interview yet regarding his firing from Grey's Anatomy, the former Dr. Preston Burke insists, "They fired the wrong guy."

"I have to clear my name. I'll start from the beginning. I'm telling everything. So here's the truth," Washington tells his hometown newspaper, the Houston Chronicle, in Friday's edition.

The truth, as Washington sees it, is that he was made the patsy and costar T.R. Knight should have been fired.

Washington claims that the much reported on-set argument between himself and costar Patrick Dempsey that supposedly ended with Washington referring to Knight as a "faggot" was nothing more than "a lie."

While Washington cops to uttering the derogatory term during a disagreement with Dempsey—and that it was not only wrong but something he was "remorseful" about—he denies that the slur was in any way directed at Knight, despite Knight's insistence to the contrary.

"I used the word during a disagreement with Patrick," Washington tells the Chronicle. "I apologized for that. We shook hands and went back to work.

"I knew T.R. was gay, but I would never attack him because of his sexual orientation. That's stupid. I've been working with lesbians and gays for 21 years in this business."

In January, following Grey's Golden Globe win for Best Drama Series, Washington was asked by E! Online columnist Ted Casablanca about the incident.

"No, I did not call T.R. a faggot. Never happened, never happened," the actor responded.

A day later, Knight appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show and asserted that Washington had indeed directed the slur Knight's way, that he had "never been called that to [his] face" and that "everyone heard it."

To the Chronicle, Washington says he believed Knight's comments were a calculated move.

"I feel all of this was about him getting a raise and getting his character to stop being perceived as a dopey, kooky kind of character," Washington says in an audio clip posted on the newspaper's Website. "He perceives himself as a leading man. That's why you could see the change this past season. That was his whole impetus behind this. And I was used and I was exploited...to raise T.R.'s profile. I may be wrong, but that's how I feel about it."

Washington also contends he was stunned to receive a teary phone call from series creator Shonda Rhimes two weeks ago informing him that he would not be welcomed back for the show's fourth season.

"That was a shock," he says. "I did everything they told me to do, including not saying anything, and then they didn't renew my contract. That's not fair.

"I was not fired for making homophobic slurs. I did everything I said I would do. I offered to go to counseling, to do a public service announcement. I wanted everyone to know I was remorseful."

Still, Washington isn't placing all the blame for his ousting on his former costar, copping to having made three massive errors in judgment: "Believing 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."

As for being tagged a homophobe, Washington swears the term does not fit.

"My livelihood, my honor and dignity and my name have been so challenged," he says.

"My whole existence has coexisted easily and beautifully with individuals who happen to be gay, but, more importantly, are immensely talented. There's no way in my mind and my heart that I could be a homophobe."