Isaiah Washington fired from Grey's

[KDAngel]

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

Washington Fired from "Grey's Anatomy"
Posted Jun 7th 2007 10:55PM by TMZ Staff
Filed under: TV, Celebrity Feuds

TMZ has confirmed that Isaiah Washington has been fired from the ABC hit "Grey's Anatomy."

Washington's rep, Howard Bragman, confirmed this evening to TMZ that "Grey's" creator Shonda Rhimes called Isaiah today and told him he would not be invited back to the show next season. TV Guide's Michael Ausiello, who first broke the story, reports that the decision was due only in part to Washington's on-set troubles, and was a result of a "pattern of problematic behavior."

As for how he feels about his termination, Washington issued the following statement: "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore."

Paging a mediator, STAT!

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.

[PM_Mama00]

"I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore."

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.

[shinerbock]

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.

[xo_kathy]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

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....

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.

[ThetaDancer]

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

Originally Posted by shinerbock

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. I know there were threats and concerns of some advertisers pulling out, and I know there were organized boycotts of Grey's and its sponsors. I have no idea how successful these boycotts were, but the controversy did cause problems. His popularity was so-so and the show can undoubtedly go on without him.

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. It did happen on a couple of occassions. He also had a history of violence and had attacked Patrick Dempsey on set. His anger management problems were habitual. People should face the possibility of losing their jobs for verbally and physically attacking co-workers.

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. The show prides itself on its diversity. In that sense, he was not fitting in with their values. Also, the shows own cast members were some of the most outspoken critics of Isaiah. It had clearly become a problem and he was no longer in tune with their values.

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

[KDAngel]

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.

[shinerbock]

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".

[macallan25]

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.

[shinerbock]

Originally Posted by macallan25

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).

[blackngoldengrl]

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.)

[ZChi4Life]

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" Bring back the George from season 1 !!

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by shinerbock

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.

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.

[shinerbock]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

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.

[RU OX Alum]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

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.

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

[shinerbock]

Originally Posted by RU OX Alum

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.