Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Isaiah Speaks OUT about being fired


Isaiah Washington has been quite quiet since he got fired from the hit show Grey's Anatomy, but now he is finally speaking OUT.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How are you feeling about what happened last week? Did you think it was fair?

ISAIAH WASHINGTON: I don't know if it's a question of ''fair.'' I'm saddened by the outcome. I did everything that the producers and the network asked me to do. I came back under great duress and stress, and thought I was doing the job I was hired to do. I thought that was going to speak for my future at Grey's, but apparently that wasn't the same vision that the network and studio had for me.

Why do you think the decision was made by ABC? Was Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes happy about it?

I knew she was aware of the decision. But you have to understand that she's at the helm of one of the top-rated scripted shows on television.

Were you in touch with Shonda after you were fired?

She called me on Thursday of last week [June 7] and told me that I would not be returning to the show. Just like she personally called me and invited me to the show. It was full circle.

There are rumors you may file a lawsuit against ABC.

I don't know anything about that.

Have you heard from many of your castmates?

No. Everyone is still on vacation. I don't expect to hear from my castmates. I did talk to Chandra Wilson and I got a text message from Kate Walsh. Everyone's doing their own thing. People are still trying to enjoy their summer before they get back to the grind. I think a lot of people are out of the country. I'm still getting calls from people discovering that this change has occurred.

Would you consider you and T.R. Knight to be on good terms?

I don't know. You have to ask T.R. that.

Would you be open to cameo on Grey's?

If Shonda calls me and says, ''Look we want you to do something for Grey's Anatomy'' I probably would not hesitate. But I don't really see that happening.

How do you think this is going to affect your career?

I'm working right now [on the indie film, The Least of These]. I can only take one day at a time. I can only apologize so many times. I can only accept so much responsibility. All the players involved have taken care of what we needed to take care of in-house -- and the media took it in a different direction. I hope that everyone is happy for the outcome for Isaiah, but Isaiah will go on and do what I love to do. And I have to go about the business of letting people know what's written about me is not the truth. I'm merely an actor, a husband, and a father who's trying to do a great job and be very grateful and understanding that I'm in a very privileged position. This isn't a time for me to be looking back; it's only a time for me to be looking forward. I just hope people can understand in the industry and otherwise that it's a horrible misunderstanding what transpired with our show and it was blown out of proportion. If the naysayers out there feel that some justice has been served and that they're happy with the outcome, so be it. It's incumbent on me to take what I do, do it well, grow from the experience, and move on.

Do you have any concerns about being labeled as difficult as an actor?

Hopefully I'll have an opportunity to address a lot of that down the road. It'd be very cleansing for my soul to let the fans and the general public see a side of me that I feel was horribly represented in the press.

What type of offers have you received?

I've gotten a ton of offers in both film and TV, and now my agent Ben Press and I are just sorting through all the options. There is one network in particular that's very interested. But I don't want to say anything specific until it's a done deal.

Would you work with ABC again?

[Laughs] I don't know. That's up to ABC.

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