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Isaiah Washington still talking: says T.R. Knight wanted both he and Dempsey off the show...

The terrific blogger Keith Boykin got a call from Isaiah Washington who offered up an unsolicited interview to continue to tell his side of the story. Their talk too place last night. I'm going to bite my tongue and just give you some excerpts and you can come to your own conclusions:
aaaaaaaaaaawashington.jpg"I'm not firing back at anybody else in the cast but T.R. Knight and Katie Heigl because they both know as well as Chandra Wilson knows that T.R. Knight was very tactical in trying to remove me from the show because he knows that I know, and I was gagged, that he has been working on a conspiracy to get Patrick Dempsey and myself off the show for the last year and a half."
According to Washington, "The only reason I used his name, T.R., in the argument was because he had led me to believe that Patrick Dempsey was so abusive and so horrible to people in a two and a half hour conversation on the plane. For two and a half hours, this boy talked my ear off, Keith, about how horrible Patrick Dempsey is and how he needs to be removed from the show. And in my argument, the irony of it is that Patrick happened to show some behavior that was very in line with what T.R. was telling me on the plane and I challenged T.R. to deny it or say this isn't true."
aaaaaaaaaaadempsey.jpg"All the dirty macking that he gave me about Patrick Dempsey led me to believe that Patrick was trying to treat me in a disrespectful manner, in the same kind of manner apparently accorded to T.R. that Patrick had treated him. And even to this day, when I went back to the set Patrick Dempsey and T.R. still have a rift and are still not on speaking terms. They do not talk to each other...I know Patrick Dempsey has supported me by stating that if there is anyone that needs to be fired it is T.R. Knight because he has created such a negative environment on that set because he felt like he has not been treated and given the same leading man kinds of story lines that have been given to Patrick and Isaiah. He felt like his character was being treated very caricatureish and dopey and he wanted a change. That's why you see his character changing so significantly into being all of a sudden this really dopey guy into being this uber he-man that's sleeping with everyone."

aaaaaaaaaaacast.jpg
"This is something that T.R. Knight has been trying to do and using the incident of the so-called F-word that was targeted at him, which is a flat out lie, to blackmail the writers into doing his bidding, and it's not working. The producers are not happy about it, and quite frankly, they all think that something has gone awfully awry with the stability of T.R. Knight.
aaaaaaaaaaaknight.jpgAnd I can freely say this now because I am no longer a Disney employee and I am no longer gagged. But everyone there, including the producers, all the way up to Touchstone, are very disappointed in the behavior of T.R. Knight...And let me be clear Keith. All of this I'm saying to you has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he's gay. He came out October 19 as purely a tactical move to do exactly what it did, get public opinion in an outrage to lead them to believe that he is being picked on because he is gay. He could care less about the gay community."
Washington is planning to tell all when he appears on Larry King Live on CNN.

OK, I do have a few things to add:
So what was this statement Washington made back in February all about? “I apologize to T.R., my colleagues, the fans of the show and especially the lesbian and gay community for using a word that is unacceptable in any context or circumstance. By repeating the word Monday night, I marred what should have been a perfect night for everyone who works on Grey’s Anatomy. 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."

aaaaaaaaaaaaknight.jpgMy only interview with Washington was On the Red Carpet at the American Music Awards last November and I asked him if he was proud of T.R. and the way he handled the situation with his coming out statement:
ISAIAH: T.R., the thing about T.R., is T.R. has been gay for a long time (laughs). I think it was a mere coincidence that it came out the way it came out. But we all love T.R. We all know who T.R. is and T.R. knows who T.R. is trust me, T.R. would never be a victim or victimized by anyone under any circumstances and if I saw it or heard it, i would be the first one jumping into the fray to make sure he would be protected from something like that. That's my family, that's all i can say to that.


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Comments

I could hear the violins from "Pycho" playing in the background as I read this. The man is SERIOUSLY mental.

I used to respect Keith Boykin. Not any more. I can't believe he's providing a platform for this.

His career is now officially done. He's moved way beyond trying to shut up.

He will never work in this town again. I can't imagine a producer or a casting director who would want to invite this sort of negative energy onto a set. (Other than the producers of "The Surreal Life" in about two years...)

Even though I was appalled by the events that led to this stage, it did seem as though things had died down when Isiah took the needed steps to try and make things right, and when the news broke that he had been fired from Greys Anatomy, I was more than a little shocked (and felt that this action was more than a little late in coming). One has to think that this would have had more effect had the firing of Washington had come after his second 'foot in mouth' incident at the Golden Globes and not after his stint in 'gay rehab'. I can only assume that the producers of the show had this firing in mind all along and wanted to wait until things had cooled down.

Reading this interview, the one thing that hit a nerve with me was not the accusations Washington was making about T.R and Patrick, or the intentions T.R had all along, but Washington's statement that T.R's outing was a tactical move.

It seems quite clear to me that Washington didn't really learn anything in 'gay rehab' other than to say sorry. To assume that someone would out themselves as being gay, so as to create a type of drama, is insane and just when he was almost there, Washington goes and blows it again.

Will he ever learn?

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Greg Hernandez

Greg Hernandez has covered the entertainment industry for the Daily News since 2001. He's considered a bit odd by some for his obsession with box office numbers, has been known to camp out near the kitchen at premieres for first crack at the hors d'oeurves, and Greg's never seen a red carpet he didn't want to stroll down.
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