Isaiah Washington fired from Grey's
 

I guess we all knew it was coming with this last season's ending...

Anyway, I'm giving this it's own thread, instead of tying it into the Grey's thread because I think it's a good consequence for his actions and maybe people in Hollywood are going to finally DO something when people screw up instead of just talking about it.

Hmmmmmm..... but if TR had called him a N****r the whole country would be up in arms. Who gives a shit how mad he is. He used a discriminatory word and it wasn't just a slip or a joke. I forgot who it was that was on Ellen (Wanda Sykes? it was an African American) but she said how could he use a discriminatory word like that when Blacks have been fighting to not be discriminated for years. She joked that "gay is the new black". It's true.

See ya later Isaiah. Have a nice life.

Did ABC have advertisers pull out? Was their some financial reason for firing him? Wasn't he pretty popular/well liked as a character on the show? If so, I think its ridiculous. This country has lost its mind when it comes to political correctness. You should not lose a job/career because you feel a certain way about people. If he constantly berated gays in the media, sure, its a pattern, I could understand. However, this guy made essentially a slip up, apologized, sat down w/ the community, etc, and he still lost his job.

Listen, I wouldn't try and tell a company what to do with their employees. If ABC legitimately said "well this doesn't fit in with our values, etc, etc" then I'm ok with it. However, I'm not sure they did so. I think their actions are more a byproduct of the absolute freak-out and reactive nature of our society when it comes to controversial things like this (See: Imus). Of course, all the blame can't go to places like MSNBC and ABC, after all, its the American public who are the ones getting huffy calling for someones head, simply because we don't agree with their viewpoint.

There was a big stir in Atlanta the other day because John Rocker went to bat for Gary Sheffield and his racist comments...Rocker said basically: "Listen, this is America, you have the freedom to not like someone, you have the freedom to say you don't like them, and you don't even have to have a legitimate reason why." If firings and controversy can be broken down into financial motivations or image concerns, go right ahead. However, I don't really see ABC as a pillar of morality in an ethically bankrupt society.

I think it has more to do with the way it was affecting the rest of the cast. The tension on set was reportedly very high and most of the other cast members didn't like him as a person. And the whole situation was causing the guy who plays George to consider not coming back. George is a much more well-loved character so I think that had more to do with it. They knew one of them wouldn't come back, so they had to decide who would be the better person to remain - and that wasn't Washington.

My opinion - woo hoo! I didn't like his character anyway.

I understand your point of view, but just to clear up a few things...

I'm kind of getting sick of Grey's but it will be interesting to see how this changes things.

I just feel bad for poor Christina. She FINALLY decided to settle down in life and marrying Burke would have definitely made her character a bit softer on one hand, but this will probably make her either depressed (which I doubt, b/c they did that with Izzie and Denny) or driven and cold (which I'm guessing they'll do)... who knows! Can't wait to find out though.

I don't pay too much attention to the show, so like I said I don't know if the advertisers threatened to pull out or how the chemistry on the set was.

I forgot that the George guy was actually gay, I know people do like him.

I don't personally care that he got fired, I'm just very hesitant to accept the trendy idea that saying something offensive is grounds, by itself, to get one fired.

I mentioned the Rocker thing because people were demanding Sheffield lose his job. I think Gary is a moron and a racist, but I also think you should allowed to be a moron, a racist, and a professional baseball player. The same goes for Hollywood, etc...I get very uncomfortable in situations like this, and Imus or whatever where advocates and media members openly say that "ideas like this just can't be tolerated anymore".

When Sheffield expanded on his comments after they caused such a stir.......he made it sound quite a bit better. I actually agree with him on most of it.

Summarize, I didn't hear them (i don't think).

I will be missing Dr. Burke. But Isaiah did it to himself, with all the controversy these days about what people say/do, he should have known better. And it is simply unprofessional to behave that way at work.
Also, yes, it was Wanda Sykes on Ellen talking about how suprised she was he made that comment, being that he is a black man in America. (It was reaired yesterday.)

I'm definitely going to miss Burke. But I understand why he was fired. Although, part of me feels like they were going to fire him all along after the first time he dropped the f-bomb to T.R.

On another note, I hope they revamp George's character. His attitude was seriously bringing me down. After his dad died, I haven't really liked his character that much. As Christina referred to Meredith in one episode, George kinda got all "dark and twisty" :p :) Bring back the George from season 1 !!

Huh? People get fired all the time in corporate America for saying something offensive. You don't have to even have a reason for firing someone in most states, so offending your coworkers is certainly one way of asking for it.

I think this decision definitely was based on finances. Cast members were threatening to walk because they apparently didn't like I. Washington. If they walk, the show goes down the tubes and that's definitely a financial loss for ABC. Again, in corporate America people are fired all the time for not working well with coworkers.

Simply because something happens "all the time" doesn't mean I agree with it.

"[N]ot working well with coworkers" is completely different than being fired for having politically incorrect beliefs and expressing them. If a person in their spare time says he thinks gay people are disgusting and personally dislikes him, yet goes about his work without problem, I don't think its something you should be fired for (note, I'm not saying that happened here). As I stated, I don't like the mindset our society has which is "well, you can't say things like that outloud and keep your job". If the mindset was "you can't say things like that because sponsors will pull out", I'm fine with it. If the mindset was "you can't verbally abuse coworkers and keep your job" I'm fine with that too. However, I don't think its limited to just those situations.

saying something offensive in and of itself might not get you fired, but causing a hostile work enviroment will/might

This is true, but it raises the question of what legitimately creates a hostile work environment? If I openly protest gay rights in my downtime, but work in an office with several homosexual people, is that enough? I sure hope not.

Wow. Are you serious? Nevermind that a fellow cast member had to deal with a very derogatory attack, and another cast member almost dealt with a physical attack. Poor fake Christina.

You mean Christina's not a real person???!!!??? Grey's isn't a reality show???!!!!!????

When I first heard the news, I was mad at ABC for firing him. But the truth is as much as love Dr. Burke's character, the real life actor has made some very wrong choices and those have consquences. Since Addision is leaving for "Private Paratice" what sort of new characters do you think they will introduce?

From what I have read, there were a couple of other factors involved. Isaiah Washington had also gotten into a physical altercation and had been "released" from a previous television show. Sounds like a pattern of behaviour. Also, I think that the cast was very upset that he used the Golden Globes to deny what happened when the whole cast knew what happened.

Shinerbock, what you do in your off-time is your business. If Washington wanted to make comments when he was away from the studio, that's his right. But, if you use derogatory language directed at a co-worker and you are at work? Then it does become the company's problem and issue.

Do Sheffield, Rocker, and Washington have the right to believe what they want to believe and freedom of speech? Absolutely. Then stick up for what you believe in and don't whine about the consequences of saying what you believe.

PS - I do not believe, condone or agree with the statements that Sheffield, Rocker, and Washington say. They do have the right of speech. But, again, accept the consequences for your speech and actions.

I agree, and if I thought the firings of people like Imus, Rocker, Washington, etc...were entirely the natural product of their actions, I'd be completely comfortable with it. However, while I think what you say should be the way things are, I don't think they are in fact that way. Almost everyone around the Imus situation thinks the assertion that he was fired for sponsor pullout is absolutely ridiculous. I'm not as familiar with the Washington situation, and frankly I don't care as much as my post may have indicated. I'm more discouraged by the general culture, and some of the comments even in this thread, indicating that "you can't get away with saying things like that." Are there consequences for actions? Sure, and they generally occur naturally. However, I think you should be able to be a racist, a sexist, biased against gays, whatever, and if it doesn't impact your work, you shouldn't be fired. I'm not really arguing a slippery slope here, but rather that some of the underlying motivations and the responses of people to situations like this are very disturbing.

I already said what I had to say about the Washington. The person before me said they were getting tired of Grey's but thought it would be interesting to see how things changed and my comment was in response to that.

So stop being so critical for nothing, I've had plenty to say on the serious situation side of this thing...

Well you know there is a whole Grey's Anatomy thread right?

I thought this was specifically to discuss Isaiah's firing?

I saw this coming. I wasn't surprised by the news at all after the season finale of the show.

OK, you are correct in that is why I gave it it's own thread, but someone commented and I was responding. I didn't really see the harm in that...

OMG INBD, Idk, my BFF Jill?

I was actually surprised to read that they JUST NOW fired him. I heard months ago that Burke was going away (walking out on the wedding) due to the behind-the-scenes stuff happening on the set, so when he indeed did do that on the finale, I considered the rumor confirmed.

I'll wait to see whether the rumor of the other major character leaving becomes truth.

Umm...what other major character? PM me if you don't want to spoil it.

I can believe that he was terminated but I refuse to believe he actually quoted the movie "Network". :rolleyes:

Isaish Washington has officially lost his mind. Now he's playing the race card:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070629/...ItKTUUWdAE1vAI

- "someone heard the booming voice of a black man and got really scared and that was the beginning of the end for me."

- "My mistake was thinking black people get second chances."

- "Well, it didn't help me on the set that I was a black man who wasn't a mush-mouth Negro walking around with his head in his hands all the time. I didn't speak like I'd just left the plantation and that can be a problem for people sometime"

Well, it was only a matter of time before he did this. I'm not surprised. It's far easier to play the race card than to admit you're a homophobic creep.

To be the "scary black guy" in a situation....

Seriously, if you don't know what this feels like..... shut up now.

I hate to break it to Isaiah, but it's funny that he's playing the race card when there are still 2 Black characters on the show. Neither one of them seems to be in danger of being fired or seems to cause trouble on the set. So yeah, Isaiah, go on believing what you want...it's not working....

PS: Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Shonda Rhimes (Grey's Anatomy's creator) Black? Because yeah, she's really going to make people believe she's a racist :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

What I think is funny about Gray's is all the black characters on the show. It's not that there's a lot of them, but there are a lot of them for Seattle. If this hospital were really in Seattle, there might be one black doctor (but maybe not), and a bunch of whites and asians (plus maybe an Indian). :p

Because all black people are the same.....

If you would read his comments, he's not talking JUST about being black. There is race, gender, and the perception of being a "threat" aside from using the word faggot.

I have been in situations JUST like Isaiah where I have been considered intimidating or threatening because of my race and gender and the fact that I actually have an opinion.

I'm not saying Isaiah can't have opinions...and I definitely have had friends in similar situations who have been perceived as 'threats'. But that's not what went on. It's what he 'thinks' went on. He made a homophobic comment and made a big mistake when he did it. And it didn't sit well with his castmembers. And obviously his on-set behavior became less appealing. Because yeah, people don't forget stuff like that. But now he wants America to think that he was wronged or that it's not all his fault. And that's not okay. Nothing he has done since the incident will ever seem 'sincere' unless he stops acting like everyone's picking on him.

How do you know that Isaiah's opinions are "not what went on"?

Exactly.

Deja freakin vu.

He physically attacked one co-worker and verbally attacked another. That would be considered a "threat" and a liability regardless of race or gender.

I think I understand where you're coming from (I can't completely understand because I am a white female...) but I just wanted to point out that there were actual events that took place that made him a threat. It's not just the perception of a threat or the potential to be a threat...he actually created situations that were harmful.

But my thing is if he did verbally attack one co-worker and later physically attack another...he really should have been gone after the physical attack. Who do you know that can go to work and attack someone and still have a job:confused:? I don't know the circumstances of the altercation but something doesn't sit well with me if ANYONE can go to work and assault someone and still have a job but if they call someone "gay" they are gone. It really doesn't make sense to me.

I'm not excusing any of his actions because regardless of what your "opinion" is about life or people or whether you are a "racist," "moron," or whatever the bottomline is there is a level of professionalism that must be maintained at the workplace and between co-workers...its simply called being professional and acting like you got some darn sense...whether you are black or white...it doesn't matter. And, as always, there is more than one way to do and say anything but its up to the person to use the best judgement as to which way would be more efficient and appropriate.

I also don't believe anyone will think the show's creator is a racist because she is black and one of the black stars of the show was fired. Wrong is wrong and right is right but for some reason I don't think the decision was hers to make anyway.

I agree with you and I was surprised he wasn't fired earlier. That's one of the things I was trying to point out...the way he behaved is unacceptable. Period. It is inappropriate regardless of race or gender.

He didn't just "call someone gay." He actually outted a gay man and used derogatory words. Screaming insults and slurs at co-workers is inappropriate, whether you agree with their personal lifestyle or not. Like you said, it's just a matter of professionalism. People should expect the possibility of being fired for that behavior... again, regardless of their race or gender.

I was just pointing out that he did those things because a few other posters were suggesting that he was just perceived as a threat to others, when he had actually been acting in a way that was threatening to others.