Trediz’s Weblog

The third season of ABC’s hit show “Grey’s Anatomy” seemed to be rolling along smoothly.  The show was a runaway hit in the ratings for ABC and was always the talk around the water cooler the next day.  The shows popularity put all the actors and actresses on the A-list.  As we all know, once you arrive on the A-list, controversy will soon follow.  In October 2006, it was reported that there was an altercation on the set between cast mates Patrick Dempsey and Isaiah Washington.  According to this report, Washington was upset about workers on “Grey’s Anatomy” being tardy.  It was also reported that Washington retaliated on Dempsey by getting in his face and yelling derogatory statements.  One of the statements was a homophobic slur that offended cast mate T.R. Knight and also prompted him to disclose his sexuality.  Immediately after the altercation became public, everyone at “Grey’s Anatomy” went into damage control and played off the fight as just “boys being boys” and “a family feud.”

Months following the incident, everything seemed to have calmed down on the “Grey’s Anatomy” set.  The cast and crew put the incident behind them and refused to talk about it in interviews and television appearances.  On Jan. 15, 2007 after winning the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Series, things escalated once again.  When asked if he used a homophobic slur to refer to his cast mate (Knight), Washington commented that he didn’t call him a “faggot.”  This press conference brought back the “Grey’s Anatomy” drama that was once buried and eventually ended Isaiah Washington’s run on the hit ABC series.

Based on the mainstream media coverage that I found, an overwhelming majority presented Washington in a negative unfavorable manner.  In a New York Times article, the journalist quoted an ABC-Touchstone executive as saying “His actions are unacceptable and are being addressed.”  The mainstream media focused on the homophobic slur itself. Some of the mainstream headlines that I found were headlines such as, “Gay Slur Wasn’t Personally Aimed at T.R. Knight” and “Isaiah Washington Fails Anatomy, Mad as Hell.”

The accompanying photos of Isaiah Washington in the mainstream media were not flattering at all.  Many of the photos from Web sites such as TMZ made Washington look disturbed and angry. After the controversy, Isaiah Washington released several statements via his publicist apologizing relentlessly for actions.  In this crisis situation, there seemed to be comments coming from everyone.  The “Grey’s Anatomy” cast members were warned to be quiet on the matter, but Katherine Heigl (who I find incredibly annoying) had a few words to say about the situation.  According to People, Katherine was furious over Washington’s homophobic remarks and was “not okay” about how he treated T.R. Knight.  A conclusion that I drew from the mainstream news stories was that the media defined the crisis as an attack against homosexuals.  Based on the news coverage, Isaiah Washington was portrayed as being a homophobic person.

The majority of the blog coverage was similar to the mainstream media coverage in presenting Isaiah in an unfavorable light.  The blogs focused more on Isaiah Washington’s termination from “Grey’s Anatomy.”  The incident/slur was obviously mentioned but his termination and his reaction to the termination was the center of most blog posts.  Some of the blog entry titles that accompanied the controversy also focused on his termination and reaction.  One of Perez’s many entries was titled “Don’t Mess with This Angry Man.”  The pictures of Washington were not flattering at all from the blogs.  On one of the pictures, Perez drew devil ears on Washington emphasizing that he was “mad as hell.”  A conclusion that I drew from the blogs was that they defined the crisis as, a member of a popular television show being fired.  I came to this conclusion because the majority of the blogs focused strongly his termination.  On the majority of the blogs, Isaiah Washington was portrayed as an angry devilish person.

The mainstream media coverage and the blogs were similar when portraying Isaiah Washington unfavorably.  The blogs and mainstream media differed on the parts of the crisis that was emphasized.  Mainstream media focused a lot on the act and slur itself, while the blogs relentlessly focused on the termination and Washington’s reaction to the termination.

During the entire controversy, I thought that Washington and his publicist handled the situation very professionally.  The statements that Washington and his publicist released were very apologetic statements.  Washington and his PR team devised a great PR program in my opinion.  They had Washington meet with members of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation organization.  Washington also filmed a public service announcement which dealt with not discriminating based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc.  This was a very unfortunate situation for Washington and his publicist, but I think that they did everything that they could to save his “Grey’s Anatomy” contract.  I would not have done anything differently.  In the end, Washington was let go from “Grey’s Anatomy,” but I think that the PR program was a step in the right direction for getting his career back on track.  The PR program has already seen results because Washington was offered a reoccurring role on the NBC series “Bionic Woman.”

Mainstream Media Sources www.tmz.com; www.nytimes.com; www.nypost.com; www.people.com; www.eonline.com; www.msnbc.com   

Blog Sources www.perezhilton.com; www.mediatakeout.com; www.concreteloop.com; www.popsugar.com