"Grey's Anatomy" has produced plenty of stars during its momentous run,
but actor Isaiah Washington was one who saw his star flounder after his time on the series.
When the medical drama launched as a mid-season replacement in 2005,
it had already assembled an incredible cast, including Patrick Dempsey, Ellen Pompeo,
Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, and Isaiah Washington, to play the doctors and interns working at the
prestigious Seattle Grace Hospital. Washington plays cardiac surgeon Dr. Preston Burke,
an extremely talented doctor who runs the hospital's cardiothoracic department.
Early in the first season, Burke strikes up a romance with Sandra Oh's character, Cristina,
despite the fact that attendings are discouraged from dating residents. Even so, they end up going
public with their relationship after Cristina gets pregnant and loses the baby. By the third season,
the couple experiences a harrowing time. In the aftermath of a shooting, Burke has
trouble performing surgery, and secretly enlists Cristina to do advanced procedures in his stead.
At this point, the two get engaged, planning an elaborate church wedding together. However,
in a shocking twist in the season three finale, Burke leaves Cristina at the altar,
calling off the wedding as Washington permanently exited the show.
"I really think I want this."
"I really wish that you didn't think. I wish that you knew."
So why did Washington leave "Grey's" while it was still so popular, and why has he had
trouble getting roles ever since? As it happens, there was plenty of drama behind the scenes.
According to reports, during an argument on set with Dempsey and fellow cast member
T.R. Knight in 2006, during the third season's filming process,
Washington leveled a homophobic slur at Knight. Shortly thereafter,
Knight publicly announced that he was queer, making Washington's words even more problematic.
At first, it seemed as if it would be possible for Washington to make
amends... until he dug a deeper hole for himself at the Golden Globes in January 2007,
where he used the slur again and made other disparaging comments. Before long, ABC announced
that it would terminate Washington's contract, prompting a bitter statement from the actor.
In the aftermath of this very public on-set drama, Washington laid low for several years — though he
did ultimately play a major role on "The 100." Aside from that, Washington hasn't spent a ton
of time on either the big or small screen — but when you take his behavior into account,
it's understandable that directors and actors might be hesitant to work with him.
Despite this drama, Washington eventually did reappear briefly on "Grey's Anatomy"
as a part of Sandra Oh's final arc before she left the series in 2014. As Oh's Cristina
struggles with some career hurdles in her quest to become a world-renowned cardiothoracic surgeon,
she's invited to Zurich, Switzerland to discuss her recent successful experiment,
using 3D printers to help repair heart defects in children. When she arrives, she realizes that
Burke is the one who invited her, and though she's angry at first, she soon discovers it's not some
sort of ploy to lure her back into a romantic relationship. Burke, who leads a cutting-edge
research lab at one of the city's best hospitals, wants Cristina to take over for him. She doesn't
accept at first but, ultimately, Cristina takes the job after an electric back-and-forth.
"You're gonna dangle the carrot and I'm supposed
to chase it until you snatch it away? I don't want the job."
"Are you done?"
"NO!"
Even after making his very short return to "Grey's Anatomy," Washington is clearly still fairly
upset about the circumstances surrounding his original departure. To make it all much weirder,
he's clearly still thinking about it, tweeting about a condemnation from his former co-star Heigl
as recently as 2020. Seemingly out of nowhere, Washington Tweeted a photo of Heigl, and wrote:
"This woman once proclaimed that I should 'never' be allowed to speak publicly again. The
world agreed with her proclamation back then and protested for my job and my head in 65 languages.
I wish I was on Twitter in 2007, because I will NEVER stop exercising my free speech."
This outburst was followed by a fair amount of responses
and subsequent angry tweets. Heigl wisely did not publicly respond to Washington's tweet.
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