When Isaiah Washington used a homophobic slur on the set of Grey’s Anatomy, Katherine Heigl spoke out against him and T.R. Knight responded by coming out of the closet.
Now that he’s been fired from Grey’s Anatomy, his co-stars have been dead silent, and it’s Isaiah doing all the talking. And being rather delusional in doing so.
Wow, if there were ever a person who made the stuff spewing out of Britney Spears‘ mouth appear lucid, well, it isn’t Washington. But man, he’s still nuts!
In an interview with Newsweek, Washington’s latest outburst covers racism, “homophobia rehab” and versions of events that may surprise. Read on for excerpts:
On the on-set fight with Patrick Dempsey:
“Patrick Dempsey and I had a 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 one word caught everyone’s attention, particularly someone who wasn’t even in the room with us. Someone heard the booming voice of a black man and got really scared and that was the end.”
On where that “one word” came from:
“Growing up in the South, I wasn’t exposed to as many different lifestyles and personalities as I could have been. That’s always a problem, because the more you’re exposed, clearly the more you know and understand.”
On his stint in counseling:
“There is no rehab for homophobia. That was just some crap put out by the network. I went into an executive counseling program which many people in this industry know about and go to. They knew what the program was but chose to call it what they wanted to fit their agenda.”
On the double standard of forgiveness:
“I apologized and showed 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.”
THG NOTE: Hey man, Paris Hilton went to jail, okay? She did hard time. You didn’t see her playing the race card. We don’t wanna hear about it!
On what he saw as existing prejudice:
“It didn’t help me 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 HR 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?