http://news.yahoo.com/s/a...washington


LOS ANGELES - Isaiah Washington has lost his job on the hit ABC medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," five months after creating a furor with his use of an anti-gay slur.
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Washington's contract option was not renewed for next season, series producer ABC Television Studios said Thursday.

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore," Washington said in a statement released through his publicist, Howard Bragman, without elaboration.

He drew fire after using the anti-gay epithet backstage at the
Golden Globe Awards in January while denying he'd used it previously on the set against cast mate T.R. Knight.

Gay rights groups and cast member
Katherine Heigl, who publicly denounced Washington, were among his most vocal critics.

"This is something that will have changed the scope of his life," Heigl told Entertainment Weekly last month. Washington was "sorry and embarrassed" for the mistake, she said.

Washington tried to make amends and said he was seeking therapy.

He also met with officials from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and filmed a public service announcement in which he said "words have power" to hurt or heal.

The May finale of "Grey's Anatomy" opened the door for the departure of his character. Burke was on the verge of marrying Dr. Cristina Yang (
Sandra Oh), but her doubts at first delayed and then derailed their splashy wedding.

Later, Yang found that Burke cleared out his favorite possessions from their apartment.

In May, Bragman said the actor intended to spend the summer working and not worrying about the show. Washington intended to continue his charity work in Sierra Leone, which a DNA test showed to be his ancestral home, and work on an independent movie.
[Edited 6/21/07 11:54am]

In other news TR. Knight signed a contract receiving $125,000 per episode next season..

Let's hear it for the Homo!!

I hope Washington was sincere with his public apologies and will take this situation as a learning experience.

and i hope folks wont take this as an oppurtunity to 1) make fun of knight and 2) make fun of washington...

ooops...to late.

So he said faggot during an argument, later apologized and months later he's fired.

Whatever!

PANDURITO said:

well look what happens when you say "nappyheaded".

HOLY SHIT I'm not excusing him, I know what he did/said (repeatedly, at that!) was stupid, wrong & completely insensitive. But gat dayum, that mf is FINE!! He's very much a draw for me to tune in - I like his character, I love the relationship w/ Burke & Yang. Damn, this sucks. I think people were willing to forgive him the first time but he sealed his own fate @ that award show. So stupid... so FINE, but so damn stupid

I wonder if his character is gone or if another actor will assume his role?

lazycrockett said:

lazycrockett said:

an employer can fire for various reasons...calling a group of young women nappyheaded hoes or another person the "f" word.

If you were on your job and called another employee, a client, or customer either one of those names, you too maybe fired.


Life lesson for him. I'm with you Cal, that brother is fine but what an idiot. Hell, I would watch Love Jones just for him.

PANDURITO said:

I agree.

i'm glad he's experiencing the repercussions of his words, though i hope his career survives this. i'm more interested in people learning from their mistakes and moving on than i am in seeing them completely ruined by them.

Rhondab said:

That's the thing though - they didn't even fire this fool when he first said it, or when he REPEATED the dumb shit glibly @ that award show. They just didn't renew his contract I know his wife wants to BEAT HIS ASS It's just so stupid - you're on one of the hottest shows on TV & you voluntarily fuck it up TWICE, unbelievable

Xagain said:

Thank you.
By the way, was it you who sent me Imogen Heap's speak for yourself extra tracks?

Xagain said:

Well, people can say whatever they want. Fortunately, people are free to react to what people say however they want. You can't call someone that word on the job and expect to keep that job.

I am glad his ass got fired. If he is truly homophobic, then I am no longer a fan of his.

Anxiety said:

me too.

madartista said:

Oh I think he's learned.

Lothan said:

i agree, but i hope his career survives, too. i don't think there's any benefit to "the movement" if he now becomes the footnote to gay history as "the guy who got fired for using the f-word."

Lothan said:

exactly....


he can say whatever walking down the street but you can't say whatever you want on your job....the difference ppl keep missing with this and the Imus situation.

PANDURITO said:

I WAS a fan but I am not watching anymore. That's BS. Whether in joking or whatever plenty of people have said that that infamous F word. Doesn't make it right, but I hardly believe it was a reason to fire him.

Frederick96 said:

Could you call someone that on your job and keep your job? That is all it boils down to.

All I know was I saw him lean over and say "I never called (SOME PERSON) a F...." I was like "huh you just did."

I'm glad he was fired. That "going to therapy" bullshit was the silliest shit I ever heard. You're either an asshole or your not. No amount of therapy is going to change that. That's like thinking a therapist is going to change a Klan member.

Rhondab said:

Wait, didn't this incident occur while they were at work?

It doesn't matter to me. I don't necessarily think Imus should have been fired, and I don't think Washington should have been fired. I'm not riled up over either one, because typically speaking people's bigotries don't alarm me. Whenever celebrities utter a bad word that any one of us are capable of uttering, I think most of the public reaction tends to be overreaction. Maybe I haven't paid enough attention to it all to form a full opinion on it. I tend to tune out to some extent when it comes to celebrity bad behavior. Repercussions? Sure. Out and out firing? I just don't know.

Anxiety said:

Agreed completely. I think sometimes people confuse punishment with devastation or revenge.

[quote]

RipHer2Shreds said:

Both of y'all always have been too damn nice. That's OK though, I love y'all anyway, despite your flaws.

RipHer2Shreds said:[quote]

Rhondab said:

This isn't about celebrity though. Isaiah was at work, in a fight with a CO-WORKER and uttered the word. ABC handled it internally but then the fool said it AGAIN. This wasn't an out and out firing.

His termination is fair.

Same with Imus who wasnt the first to be fired for saying something like that over the airwaves.



There's a difference in walking down the street and saying whatever...they were on their jobs.

Paris Hilton has used the n word a number of times...but since the heffa doesn't work....she can't ben fired

vainandy said:

I can be a straight up asshole and a ferocious bitch. I'm just trying to put myself in their shoes. What if this happened to me?

Rhonda, I gotcha. I don't even care, so I don't know why I bothered responding? Oh, I know - cuz I can't keep my yap shut.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Didn't he say that in an argument, though? In private? I don't defend saying it certainly, but he didn't broadcast it like Imus. It's crazy, I imagine all the inappropriate things I might say throughout the day. We're all guilty, not of that specific word, but others.

I'm thinking he must have not gotten along with his co-workers in general or this would have stayed private and they could have worked it out.

Too bad though, I prefer his character to George's. I'm not sure I can take much more of the George/Izzy dramathon.