The “Grey’s Anatomy” controversy over an ugly epithet has been kicked up another notch.
At Monday’s Golden Globe Awards, Isaiah Washington, who plays surgeon Preston Burke on the hit ABC show, angrily denied ever calling co-star T.R. Knight a homophobic slur.
A journalist in the backstage media room had asked “Grey’s” creator Shonda Rhimes, who was taking questions along with the cast, about the controversy that erupted on the set in October over the alleged use of the word during a scuffle between Washington and co-star Patrick Dempsey.
As Rhimes began her answer, Washington, who was standing on the far side of the stage, walked up, grabbed the microphone and said, “I never called T.R. a [gay slur]. Never happened.”
The cast looked on, stone-faced, as Rhimes attempted to continue answering the question (video of the incident is at www.hfpa.org/videogallery/). It was an awkward and unpleasant moment that cast a shadow on “Grey’s” Globes win as best television drama minutes earlier.
On Wednesday, Knight appeared on Ellen Degeneres’ talk show to say that Washington did indeed use the vile word on the set in reference to Knight.
“Everyone heard it,” he said, sarcastically adding, “It’s an awesome word, isn’t it?”
Knight said the controversy surrounding the incident prompted him to come out of the closet.
“I’ve never been called that to my face. So I think when that happened, something shifted, and it became bigger than myself.”
On Monday, after the Globes incident, “Grey’s” co-star Katherine Heigl told “Access Hollywood” that she thinks Washington should just keep quiet.
“He needs to just not speak in public. Period. I’m sorry, that did not need to be said. I’m not OK with it,” Heigl said.
Michael Jensen, a columnist for AfterElton.com, a Web site that tracks depiction of gays in the media, wrote Wednesday that it is, in his opinion, long past time for ABC and the producers of “Grey’s” to “publicly repudiate what Washington said.”
“I said it back in October, and I’ll say it again,” Jensen wrote, “If T.R. Knight had said something as hateful about Isaiah, the outcome would likely have been very different.”
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