The first stage of Operation: Damage Control has proved successful.  

Grey's Anatomy doc Isaiah Washington, who last week was in dire need of an emergency removal-of-foot-from-mouth procedure, met Monday with leaders from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network to discuss both his recent use of a homophobic slur and what he can now do to discourage prejudice and intolerance against the gay community. 

"Isaiah understands he is going to be judged by more than just his apology," GLAAD president Neil Giuliano said after conferencing with Washington and GLSEN executive director Kevin Jennings in Los Angeles. "He knows his future actions—including the genuine first step today's meeting represents—will demonstrate his sincerity in becoming part of the solution to antigay bigotry.

"We welcome the opportunity to work with him in the coming months to help improve the cultural climate faced by LGBT people across this country."

"As a parent himself, Isaiah Washington seemed to particularly appreciate the impact these words have on young people in schools and expressed an interest in becoming an ally in GLSEN's effort to educate young people about the negative impact of name-calling and bullying," Jennings said, also thanking ABC for arranging the sit-down.

While an ABC spokesperson told E! News that the network has no further comment on the matter at this time, ABC was unable to remain mum last week in the aftermath of the Golden Globes, where Grey's Anatomy was named Best TV Drama Series and Washington told reporters that despite what had been reported about a dustup on the Grey's set last fall, he never referred to costar T.R. Knight as a "faggot."

"We are greatly dismayed that Mr. Washington chose to use such inappropriate language at the Golden Globes, that he himself deemed 'unfortunate' in his previous public apology," the network said in a statement issued Friday. "We take this situation very seriously. His actions are unacceptable and are being addressed." ABC and parent company Disney have strict antidiscrimination policies.

Meanwhile, during an appearance on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show Wednesday, Knight said that Washington did in fact refer to him as a "faggot" during an off-camera argument with Patrick Dempsey in October, saying "everyone heard it," and expressed surprise at his costar's attempt to deny it. 

"I don't what to say, really, about that," Knight, who had not publicly discussed his sexuality before the October incident, said. 

Washington followed ABC's announcement with a lengthy apology, in which he addressed Knight and his fellow colleagues, the gay and lesbian community and Grey's fans in general, nearly 22 million of whom tuned into a new episode on Thursday.

"I can neither defend nor explain my behavior. I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I've asked for help," the 43-year-old actor, who plays Dr. Preston Burke on the hit series, said.  

According to GLAAD, Washington "candidly acknowledged" during Monday's meeting the harm he had done by repeatedly using the epithet.  

But despite all the public reprimanding and Washington's seemingly heartfelt attempts to make amends, Dr. Burke's future at Seattle Grace is still up in the air, with the forecast looking rather cloudy. 

E! Online TV columnist Kristin Veitch reports that a source from ABC/Touchstone has said that execs are mulling over whether to let Washington go, a move that would take place without so much as a farewell episode. Standing in the way of that option, however, is the fact that Dr. Burke has an already filmed major storyline coming up in February.

Grey's actor Justin Chambers told the chat mavens over at The View on Monday that the situation on set is a work in progress.

"We won the Golden Globe, and it's kind of overshadowed that fact—and the fact that it's such a large cast, that we work a lot of hours and we get along really well," Chambers said.

Costar Kate Walsh told Extra she feels "really sad" about this latest turn of events.

"I don't know what is going to happen," she said. "I just trust that our show will deal with it in the way that they see fit."