Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Washington Meets Gay Activists, ABC May Still Fire Him


Isaiah Washington met with gay rights groups on Monday in an attempt to restore his image following a homophobic outburst at the Golden Globes last week. E! Online however reports ABC is still considering firing the actor effective immediately.


Washington, under fire for using a gay slur about co-star T.R. Knight, met Monday with Neil G. Giuliano, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and Kevin Jennings, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, who said he agreed to help educate the public about the cruelty of such language.

"He seemed very sincere in his interest in working with us in an ongoing basis," said Jennings "We emphasized that this is not a one-shot deal, but an ongoing thing. He was very open to doing this."

Meanwhile, Kristin Veitch of E! Online writes on her blog:

"I just received word from a highly placed source within the Touchstone/ABC family that one option ABC and Disney executives are considering is firing Isaiah Washington from Grey's Anatomy, effective immediately, without having him appear in any kind of farewell episode.

According to this reliable source, if the network does follow through with this option, the producers are likely to run a full-screen announcement at the beginning of the first Burke-less episode that announces Isaiah Washington is no longer part of the show.

I'm also told by various sources that the loss of Preston Burke is not an easy task for Grey's writing staff to deal with, given that he has a major storyline (including a life-changing event) coming in the next few episodes that airs during February sweeps. Those episodes have already been shot."

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