Isaiah Washington: "My mistake was thinking black people get second chances..."
Isaiah Washington is still talking. Is there going to be ANYTHING left for him to tell Larry King next week? He talked to Newsweek's Allison Samuels in what the magazine's Web site labled an "exclusive." I guess it's exclusive if ya don't count the Houston Chronicle and Keith Boykin.
Anyway, I've selected some of the quotes from Samuels well-written story, to share with you on this fine Thursday afternoon:
Washington goes back to the on-set fight that started it all:"Patrick [Dempsey] and I had a philosophical disagreement that got out of hand and that I regret a great deal...I said a lot of negative things that were never reported, but there was one word that caught everyone’s attention, particularly someone who wasn’t even in the room with us. It was a fight between two men that shouldn’t have happened. But someone heard the booming voice of a black man and got really scared and that was the beginning of the end for me. I see that now, but I didn’t then."
"I apologized and showed my remorse for what I said and for the pain I caused anyone...If a black man can’t get forgiveness in this country, when so many other people like Robert Downey Jr. and the governor of California get second and third chances … I think that says a lot about race and this country where we stand."
Washington added that "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...I had a person in human resources tell me after this thing played out that 'some people' were afraid of me around the studio. I asked her why, because I’m a 6-foot-1, black man with dark skin and who doesn’t go around saying ‘Yessah, massa sir’ and ‘No sir, massa’ to everyone? It’s nuts when your presence alone can just scare people, and that made me a prime candidate to take the heat in a dysfunctional family.’’
"My mistake was believing that I would get the support from my network and all of my cast mates across the board. My mistake was believing I could correct a wrong with honesty and sincerity. My mistake was thinking black people get second chances. I was wrong on all fronts."
To read the entire article, go to Newsweek.com.
AND JUST ONE MORE THING: it seemed a bit strange that openly gay PR giant HOWARD BRAGMAN agreed to take on ISAIAH WASHINGTON on as a client in the first place. But if Bragman, who also reps the repsected JOHN AMAECHI,wanted to help Washington rehab his tattered public image with PSAs and made amends to all the gays he offended with his use of the other F-word, the collaboration might make some sense. But as of Thursday atternoon, Bragman STILL reps Washington who has made outrageous comments in recent weeks about former co-star T.R. Knight....
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in Hollywood
Greg Hernandez authored Out In Hollywood for the Daily News from June 2006 to February 2009. He can now be found at Greg In Hollywood: www.greginhollywood.com
Howard Bragman, if you're reading this, STIFLE YOUR CLIENT!!!!
You want to know what injustice is? This freak hogs the media while Anthony Mackie, a brilliant and completely NON-HOMOPHOBIC African-American actor is ignored.
Mackie was one of the stars of "Brother to Brother" -- a brilliant independent film made a few years back about the fact that the "Harlem Rennaissance" was a gay movement thankyouverymuch. He played a contemporary black gay man whose path crosses that of Bruce Nugent -- one of the gay leaders of that long-ago movement. It was an utterly brilliant performance.
Mackie also appeared in Clint Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" and played the drug-dealer adversary to Ryan Gosling's crack-addict schoolteacher in "Half Nelson."
I'd like to see TONS more about Anthony Mackie and TONS LESS about Miss Washington -- who's long overdue for getting THROWN OFF THE ISLAND.
His recent comments are the biggest crock of %$#* that I've heard in a long time! Mr. W: If people seem to be afraid of you, maybe it's because you have some anger management issues and people can feel that?! This has nothing to do with being a "proud" or strong black man! Your putting this issue into a racist category is demeaning to all other black men! You have some personal problems and are making a total ass of yourself. If you acy like an ass*&$%, you will find yourself surrounded by nobody, except other idiots. Shut up already!
gay white men can give out criticism but can't take it, so if TR's punk ass is telling the truth why isn't he saying anything. Isaiah Keep speaking your truth my brother, I got your back!
I think more people would be sympathetic to Mr. W if he showed a little, oh I don't know, REMORSE?
How can anyone say that they are sorry if they follow it up with "I said I was sorry. Isn't that enough?!!!!!"
I thought regret was feeling like you could never right the wrong.
You reading this Mel Gibson???!
Also, black men who got second chances:
Mike Tyson
Michael Jackson
Bill Cosby (allegations of sexual harassment)
Kobe Bryant
It's hard to make a list of anyone who didn't get a second chance as they tend to fall off the map, but off the top of my head . . .
Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman)
As far as I can tell Mr. W pulled a Suzanne Somers and pissed off an executive. He's just got to find his thigh master and get on with his life.
I would think after apologing time and time agian, doing as ABC told him to by going into a fake rehab, a public service address for GLADD, would be showing remorse for his actions, guess it's not good enough for you, but hey after doing all that, having the press make you out to be the bad guy and then getting fired by the network in June for something that happened in October I would be angry too. Whether you like it or not Isaiah has the right to have his side of the story heard....as for Kobe Bryant it was proven that he was innocent and that the girl LIED, all charges where dropped thank you (check you facts), for Bill, well unless you have proof those allegations of sexual harassment did happen and he was proven guilty they are just that allegations.....good thing you have people like Paris Hilton, Wynona Ryder, Tom Sizemore, Lane Garrison (Prison break actor involed in drunk driving accident where a 17 yr. old died), George Michael, & Joey Buttifuco(had an affair with a 17 yr old girl who tried tp kill his wife)representing white people, they never do anything wrong....lets not go tit for tat Solobear
You know, I guess you're right. I don't think he feels any remorse about what he said. Though, I'm sure he regrets having said it. The same can be said for Mel Gibson and Michael Richards.
Apologizing then getting pissed and saying "I've done enough" doesn't make sense. It's like cheating on your partner, saying you're sorry then getting mad because they still want you to sleep on the couch. It may just be me, but the person who did the wrong doesn't get to decide when the wronged party should be feeling better.
Know who showed remorse? The woman on Oprah who backed up her car and ran over her grandson. Even though the rest of the family was telling her she was forgiven, she couldn't stop beating herself up.
SIDEBAR: This is not to suggest that killing someone is the same as what Mr. W did. It's just an example of a demonstration of remorse.
My comments about people who did get second chances (e.g. Kobe) was a reference to black men who faced negative press and continued in their careers. I provided it as a counter to the suggestion that it's one strike and they're out for blacks. It wasn't a comment about racial equality in the entertainment industry or elsewhere.
Therefore, I don't think it would be inconsistent for me to stand by my point and still agree with you that the people in your list fared better than Mr. W.
Just as the network's version of the incident should be questioned, Mr. W's comments should be taken with a grain of salt.
He has to protect his career and reputation, so it is likely that he may overstate things to put himself in a better light -- just as the network does to protect it's own interests. Everybody loves a victim.
It should be noted that saying that Mr. W is overstating things is NOT saying minorities are always treated fairly. He can be lying about what happened to him while others are actually discriminated against.
It's entirely possible that, like Suzanne Somers he pissed off the wrong network executives and they fired him. Which, at least in my world, is not always racially motivated. Some people just get ornery if they think others should be kissing their ass and they aren't. If they can get people fired, then one needs to make a decision as to whether or not to pucker up.
You know we're all in danger to the kind of PC witch hunt that publicly lynched Washington. Before you get too arrogant, remember there's probably some group considered more oppressed than you that can take any little thing you say out of context and punish you and socially/financially destroy you. While I hate Washington's race baiting, it's no worse than Knight gay victim tattler stance. And I can't help but get angry for Washington when I think about all the PC "tolerance" hoops he had to jump through and still got fired.
"Solobear" Washington has done enough and those were forced apologies. Of course he's not truly sorry. We're in the land of thought crimes here.
isaih put up with a lot on that show the media went on and on about mc steamy and mc dreamy but did you hear about mc chocolate no. do a lot of women tuned in to see isiah when he left the ratings mc dropped that goes to show you the one you tried to leave out and pretend he wasn't even sexy enough to mc nickname held the ratings thats what they get love you isaih