Fans of Grey's Anatomy will tell you that watching ShondaLand's long-running series
often leads to heartbreak.
Very few characters manage to escape the show without meeting a grisly death.
But even with plenty of drama on-camera, what plays out behind the scenes could give the
doctors of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital a run for their money.
More than once, off-screen shenanigans have led to the demise of our favorite characters
and pink slips for their actors, just as they were all warned on their very first day of
residency.
"Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty, five of you will crack under pressure, two
of you will be asked to leave."
Here's who got the can thanks to some bad behavior.
Isaiah Washington
Dr. Preston Burke, played by Isaiah Washington in the original show cast, landed in some
hot water in 2007 when he was overheard using a homophobic slur in reference to co-star,
T.R.
Knight.
Although Knight has since come out as a gay man, he had not yet done so at the time of
the incident.
The network decided to make it clear that slurs like that would not be tolerated around
the set and fired Washington.
The actor later profusely apologize for his statements, saying, "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."
"I know a mere apology will not end this, and I intend to let my future actions prove
my sincerity."
Washington eventually returned to the show for a brief cameo in Season 10 after Shonda
Rhimes believed the actor had learned from his mistake.
"There is no way I could do something so horrible to another human being then or now."
Katherine Heigl
After surviving an on-screen battle with skin cancer that spread to her brain, you'd assume
Dr. Izzie Stevens was invincible.
But Katherine Heigl's career on the show was not.
The actress kicked up some drama around set when she decided to withdraw her name from
Emmy consideration because she didn't think the writers of the show had given her the
kind of material worthy of an award.
Needless to say, the showrunner was not pleased with her comments.
"Yeah, on some level it stung, and on some level I was not surprised.
When people show you who they are, believe them."
After that stunt, she lasted two more years before her character was written-off.
"That wasn't cool"
I should not have said that.
Yeah, I shouldn't have said anything publicly and
"at the time, I didn't think anybody would notice."
At the time of her exit, Heigl said that she wanted to spend more time with her family.
"I didn't really want to go but I felt that when I became a mother I needed to make her
and my husband and our life together a priority."
But fans had a feeling there might be more to it than that, including bad blood between
the actress and Shonda Rhimes.
Heigl made it clear in 2012 that she'd like to wear scrubs again…
"I think it would just be so wonderful to have the opportunity to round out the character."
But Rhimes didn't waste time telling TV Guide it wasn't happening, saying,
"It was really nice to hear her appreciating the show.
We are on a track we have been planning, and the idea of changing that track is not something
we are interested in right now."
Moral of the story?
Don't burn a bridge in Shondaland!
T.R.
Knight
For the first few seasons of Grey's Anatomy, Dr. George O'Malley was one of the most beloved
characters, so it came as a shock when 007 was discovered to be the anonymous bus crash
victim in season five.
Audiences were heartbroken, but the plotline of actor T.R. Knight's departure proved even
more dramatic.
According to what Knight told Entertainment Weekly, he decided he wanted to leave the
show because he wasn't getting enough screen time, even after he voiced his complaints
to the writers, saying,
"My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given
[about O'Malley].
And with respect, I'm going to leave it at that."
Considering how similar his stinging words were to the ones that got Heigl the boot,
it's probably no surprise that Knight didn't even get to show his face before being killed
off the show.
Patrick Dempsey
One of Grey's Anatomy's most shocking and gut-wrenching moments was Dr. Derek Shepherd's
passing after receiving incompetent medical care at another hospital following a car crash.
Actor Patrick Dempsey was one of the show's originals, so it was hard to let McDreamy
go after 11 seasons.
He may not have had a vote in the matter, however.
Sources alleged that Dempsey had an affair with a member of the Grey's crew and that
those shenanigans were enough to make Rhimes put her foot down and decide that Dempsey's
time on the show was done.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Dempsey and his wife of 17 years announced a temporary separation
right around the same time.
For his part, Dempsey didn't actually deny that he and Rhimes had hit an impasse near
the end.
"I think it was time for us both to be done … it's hard to keep the creative energy
going for 10 years."
But Rhimes herself would later peg the decision to kill off her leading beau as a creative
one, telling audiences of the 2015 TCA Summer Tour,
"Meredith and Derek's love had to remain Meredith and Derek's love … Derek was going to have
to die in order for that love to remain honest.
Because I really couldn't have the idea that he just turned out to be a bad guy who walked
out on his wife and kids be a true story.
It felt like that was the only way to make Meredith and Derek's magic remain
true and forever frozen in time."
But from all these storied firings, it's clear that crossing Shonda Rhimes behind the scenes
is the quickest way to get your doctor card promptly revoked, no matter how prominent
you might be.
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