Bye Bye Isaiah!

I heard this morning on GMA that Isaiah Washington is not going to be back on Grey's Anatomy next season. It may seem petty, but well...I was very happy to hear this. I'm sorry, I am.

When I saw the season finale of Grey's....I started to worry. One, every single character ended being completely misreable...come on Grey's...can't ONE person have some happiness. But anyways...I digress...in the final episode George is cleaning out his locker after failing his intern exams and saying that he cannot repeat his intern year. So...I got worried that TR Knight was not going to be returning to Grey's next season. There were reports after "the incident" that Knight said that if Washington was to stay on the show that he would have no choice but to leave. So...I was worried that Washington was staying and Knight was leaving.

And just in case anyone out there is living under a rock...Washington was critiqued for calling TR Knight a gay slur on two different occasions in 2006. He called him the F word on the set and then said it again on national television after Grey's won the Golden Globe for best ensemble cast. He then apologized again...and went to rehab. I don't know what kind of rehab...I didn't know they had "gay slur" rehab, but well....celebs seem to think that rehab is in the solution to any situation they get themselves into.

Anyways...it angered me that it wasn't a bigger deal what Washington said. Imagine the firestorm if someone on the Grey's cast called Washington the N word. They would immediately be fired...and the Jessie Jackson's and Al Sharpton's of the world would be going bat shit crazy. But...there is still this sense of acceptance when it comes to calling people "gay" names. It seems that the gay community and the overweight community are still open to name calling and jokes...those are still funny, while other populations are not. I mean...look at Imus. He was fired for calling someone a "nappy headed ho." And we all know it was the nappy comment not the ho comment that got his ass fired. The African American community is much more mobilized than the women's rights community....so well...

So, I was glad to see Grey's take a stand and not renew his contract. I believe in free speech...but I also believe that your words have consequences. Washington used the word...not once, but twice...and the second time he used it, he was denying he used it in the first place. Was it the end of the world? No...but I can see why ABC made the choice they did. So...so long Isaiah...I liked Dr. Burke as a character, but well...words have power...and consequences.

Of course many will say it is just more PC crap...but I happen to applaud Grey's and ABC for making a decision to not support intolerance. Maybe someone will think about it the next time they are going to callously call someone the f word.