01/19/2007
Neil Patrick Harris calls Isaiah Washington Behavior Disappointing
TV Guide's Michael Ausiello reports that Neil Patrick Harris commented on the Grey's Anatomy F-word scandal yesterday at a CBS press tour party. Says Ausiello:
"T.R. has proven himself to be an incredibly classy, dignified guy," [Neil Patrick Harris] told me. "I'm impressed that Katherine Heigl said what she said. I was shocked that it all reared its ugly head again."Harris — who came out just weeks after Knight — wouldn't comment on what form Washington's "punishment" should take. "It's impossible for me to make any kind of comment about that because I wasn't there when it happened. It's just disappointing that it's... cyclical."
Meanwhile, the word from the Grey's set is that Washington's problems extend far beyond his affinity for a certain derogatory f-word. Per a source, his behavior has been so "inappropriate and offensive" for so long that producers have often been forced to intervene.
Hopefully, ABC will do the right thing by acting quickly and demonstrating that there are serious consequences for those who use hate speech.
Posted 12:27 PM EST by Andy Towle in Isaiah Washington, Neil Patrick Harris, News, T.R. Knight, Television | Permalink
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I hope your first entry next week will be that ABC canned Washington's ass.
Posted by: Mike | Jan 19, 2007 12:41:51 PM
What's disappointing is the growing impression that Shonda Rimes just doesn't "get it" either.
If she had properly disciplined Washington the first time around, he wouldn't have been trying to deny the whole thing again (much less making a whole new series of demeaning gay comments) when he was feeling drunk and celebatory.
At this point, ABC needs to tell Shonda that Washington has created a hostile work environment. TR is fucked by this. He can't raise a stink if he wants to stay employable in Hollywood.
On the other hand, if I was a gay man employed on that show, and didn't think it would ruin my career, I'd be talking to my lawyers *already*.
Posted by: adamblast | Jan 19, 2007 12:58:06 PM
When you have long standing policies in place as ABC states, you know what they become if you ignore them? Exhibit A.
It's time for the producer's and ABC to do right by the cast and crew, and put an end to this hostile work environment. At this point, the scales of Asset vs Liability have tipped. It even makes good business sense. Seriously.
Posted by: Mary | Jan 19, 2007 1:11:33 PM
I'm sure this is the tip of the iceberg. He's got some serious issues, problems with authority. He's toast.
Posted by: dattexas | Jan 19, 2007 1:11:44 PM
I'm glad someone is finally "outing" producer SHONDA RHIMES for her part in all this, she's coming off as just as HOMOPHOBIC and HATEFUL as Isaiah Washington. She should have fired his ass in October! By not doing so, tells me she supports his hate! I wish ABC would stage a coup and get her ass out of there too! What a nasty filthy twosome!
Posted by: spencer | Jan 19, 2007 1:12:39 PM
For someone recently out in public, I definitely appreciate NPH being an additional voice in providing support for T.R. and in effect speaking against hateful, derogatory comments toward GLBT individuals. I'd love to hear other respected individuals in the entertainment community (especially out members) use their media access to echo this sentiment, not so much as to make sure IW's ass is canned, but as to create an opportunity for the general public to understand this kind of crap language needs to stop. I think that's the bigger story here.
Posted by: Kurt | Jan 19, 2007 1:18:28 PM
Okay, Oscar, your offensive use of the N word does not help. However, getting back to the original theme of the post, there needs to be something done to make the workplace hospitable to all who choose to work in a particular place of employment. Isaiah Washington needs to be held by the same standard that the rest of us gainfully employed people are held to (at a much lower salary I might add) and be dismissed , post haste!!!!!!!
Posted by: bleachy62 | Jan 19, 2007 1:21:55 PM
Oscar, you are an IDIOT.
Thankfully, Doogie Howser always makes things better, at least for a moment.
Posted by: Gregoire | Jan 19, 2007 1:24:13 PM
Oscar,
You are such a fool. Step off son.
Posted by: James | Jan 19, 2007 1:31:22 PM
The use of any derogatory terms should be unacceptable at any level. If we as a community are going to make a united statement about the harm they cause, we need to look at ourselves first and examine our own prejudices (for example, Oscar's irresponsible use of the N-word.) We can't complain about being offended if we easily cause offense to others. It really demeans us to go down to this level.
Posted by: tj | Jan 19, 2007 1:34:05 PM
IF HE'D BEEN WHITE, HE'D BE FIRED. PERIOD
Posted by: tom | Jan 19, 2007 1:35:00 PM
Oscar, if you please: slither back into your hole and swallow broken glass. The reason you're so angry and willing to wave your "tire-tracked" little brain is because you know your days are numbered. You're a social dinosaur. Someday archaeologists will be studing YOUR bones. You and your inbred fellow willful racists once controlled America but you no longer do, and
it's driven you crazy enough to stop on Towleroad, open the door of your rust-eaten old truck with the styrofoam dice hanging from the broken rearview mirror, and the gun rack above the Playboy bunny sticker next to the Confederate flag and Retards for Bush stickers, and puke. You're nothing. A philosophical nonentity. That sound you hear is the clock ticking down on your kind.
That being said, yes, Shonda Rhimes's countenance of Washington's series of homophobic behaviors, and, worst of all in my not so humble opinion, laughing when he said "faggot" into the mike a foot from her face, requires a direct apology from her. She's no token minority hire. She's no Ice-T on "Law & Order: SVU." Her parents were academics and she has a degree from Dartmouth. Her apparent homophobia is, therefore, CHOSEN stupidity and, therefore, all the more culpable.
Posted by: Leland | Jan 19, 2007 1:40:59 PM
>
While a little self-examination is never a bad thing, posts like the one you're referring to are no more representative of gays than Washington's comments are representative of blacks.
Unmoderated blog comments always bring out a few openly rascist and openly homophobic trolls, and are best either ignored completely or repudiated briefly *without debate*. They're trying to sidetrack the discussion, and succeed all too often.
Some gay people are racist. Some black people are homophobic. Neither one is a fair generalization of their whole community.
As for the matter at hand, ABC needs to know that yesterday's announcements are falling on deaf ears. Shonda's TV show is clearly a demeaning place to work if you are gay.
Posted by: adamblast | Jan 19, 2007 1:52:41 PM
Calling Shonda Rhimes homophobic without direct proof is a little much. ABC/Disney owns the show and controls cast decisions. Rhimes has a boss who tells her what do. ABC/Disney has a PR department that tell people what to say when these things happen to avoid lawsuits. (Who do you think really wrote Washington's apology?)
Most companies have HR departments for one reason: to avoid lawsuits. When employees complain of mistreatment, HR and the other suits line up to protect the accused. If the accused is seen as innocent, there's no lawsuit. If the accused has done something really serious and there's no way to cover it up, he may be fired. Chances are the accusing employee gets forced out for rocking the boat.
The real anger should be focused on the Washington and the Disney suits.
If Rhimes were homophobic, why would she have hired T.R. Knight or constantly given him a strong story line? Knight has had a front burner story since he joined the show. Right?
Posted by: n | Jan 19, 2007 2:02:00 PM
For myself, I'm not accusing Ms. Rhimes of anything--although that laughter at the podium during Washington's outburst gives the impression that she's oblivious or unconcerned about homophobia when it surrounds her.
She's done nothing since Monday to counter that opinion, and her failure to prevent this kind of demeaning outburst a second time makes one wonder if she's too close to Washington to discipline him properly or whether she simply considers gay-baiting jokes a harmless macho perogative.
Posted by: adamblast | Jan 19, 2007 2:20:21 PM
"ABC/Disney owns the show and controls cast decisions. Rhimes has a boss who tells her what do."
Really? Maybe you know more than me but it's always seemed to me that the creator(s)/producers/writers (Shonda) controls the cast. It was that way with Lost (the producers/writers, not the studio, decided to write out Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros) and with all Joss Whedon shows (and he's killed off loads). I would say that regardless of what she thinks of Washington's behaviour she won't fire him without having a contingency plan. Basically something that won't mess up the writing and continuity of her show. She very well might write him out (I'm not holding my breath though) but it'll take a few episodes.
Posted by: EireKev | Jan 19, 2007 2:21:51 PM
Judging from the tape of the incident and the look of frozen terror in Rhimes's eyes it seems pretty obvious, at least to me, that it was nervous laughter and afterwards an attempt to move things along (they were on stage and in front of the press) as opposed to the tandem gay bashing she is being accused of. It would have been great if she had found a less callous way (at least in appearance) in that moment to challenge Washington and deflect the situation but she alas she did not.
As creator, executive producer and writer of ABC's number one show - a show that was still number one as of yesterday - its unlikely she is going to be fired (if that's even possible, I mean it's her show, and for certain the cast would be against it) but she is going to have to issue some sort of statement expressing her support for TR and her feelings on homophobia in general.
It does seem unlikely that TR he would have gone on Ellen without her knowledge or permission and hopefully he will be able to work with her and the other writers when they almost certainly inject a gay storyline into the prime time soap next season.
Washington on the other hand just seems like a loose cannon- I've never seen Grey's Anatomy so I don't know how integral he is to the show but given his apparently deeply rooted issues maybe they would be better off without him.
Anyway it's show business - emphasis being business so if in the next few weeks the shows ratings go down or during the next sweeps it doesn't perform well - heads will roll. I am not sure who the target audience for the show is anyway - I had assumed it was largely female.
Posted by: Giovanni | Jan 19, 2007 2:24:15 PM
(just to finish my thought)
I do however think that ABC/Disney will force her to write him out if the negative publicity continues - and, of course, if it hurts viewing figures. Til then, I'd say they'll leave it up to her to handle the cast.
Posted by: EireKev | Jan 19, 2007 2:24:34 PM
I won't go so far as labeling Shonda homophobic. I don't know her personally so how can I judge?. So far, her actions (or lack thereof) don't convince me that she is. And when I looked at the clip of the Golden Globes, she did not seem to be laughing with IW. That was nervous laughter. She was trying to turn the attention back to the win for the show and save the interview from being a complete meltdown. She looked as nervous and uncomfortable as the rest of the cast, even though she was smiling the whole time. It's hard to show "pissed" while smiling and answering questions.
And remember, we don't know what is going on behind the scenes until it is actually reported.
Posted by: soulbrotha | Jan 19, 2007 2:28:32 PM
Sorry for the echo Giovanni. You posted right before me. Great minds think alike! ;)
Posted by: soulbrotha | Jan 19, 2007 2:30:32 PM
Shonda wasn't the only one laughing. I think in such a situation, it's just a knee jerk reaction. I've done the same at times, when I've been caught off guard.
It remains to be seen what they'll do with Washington. If you saw his interview after the incident, Washington comes off like a loose cannon. He's definitely aggressive and confrontational, and I'm sure his type of personality eventually becomes unbearable. I think he should have been fired when he grabbed McDreamy's throat. I mean, you'd probably get fired in most situations for physically aggressive conduct. ABC has not handled this well at all.
Posted by: dattexas | Jan 19, 2007 2:41:57 PM
This is from the Washington Blade and sums up a lot of what I think about this:
The consternation and uproar over Isaiah Washington’s anti-gay slurs directed at his “Grey’s Anatomy” co-star T.R. Knight reveal a lot about our celebrity-obsessed culture and our collective misplaced priorities.
I’ve resisted covering the story or commenting on it because one ignorant actor using the dreaded “f-word” doesn’t strike me as particularly newsworthy. Is it really so surprising that someone would call an out gay colleague a “faggot?” This story seems to resonate much more among straight people, who forget that homophobia remains one of the last legally protected forms of discrimination around.
In the wake of the remarks, ABC has been forced to issue a statement, Knight scored an invitation to Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show and Washington has issued a couple of predictably lame apologies. Even the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation – a group many of us thought had disbanded after months of invisibility – found its voice again in the wake of the urgent controversy. GLAAD had nothing to say during the Mark Foley scandal, a time when anti-gay religious zealots were making the TV rounds denouncing us as child predators and sex addicts.
But GLAAD President Neil Giuliano is all over the Washington story and even scheduled a meeting with the actor. Giuliano, in a press release, said, “we look forward to exploring opportunities for moving forward together and healing some of the wounds of the past four months.”
Does this strike anyone else as ridiculous? Are we collectively “wounded” because of what this idiot said? Can’t GLAAD find anything more pressing to do than schedule meetings with B-list actors to solicit more insincere apologies? GLAAD is mimicking the tactics of TV camera-chasing faux alarmists like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in taking such a public stand on this story.
The whole dustup is overblown and yet another example of misplaced outrage. Where was the public’s indignation when gay men, including Michael Sandy, Kevin Aviance and Dick Jefferson were violently assaulted last year? Where was the anger when self-appointed moral guardians like James Dobson used the Foley scandal to call us all pedophiles? Where was the outrage when President Bush and Karl Rove were winning elections by demonizing us? Why weren’t people upset when state after state voted to single us out for second-class status in their constitutions?
Sorry, but those things piss me off much more than a small-minded actor calling someone a faggot. Get over it.
Posted by: Charles | Jan 19, 2007 2:51:06 PM
"I'd love to hear other respected individuals in the entertainment community (especially out members) use their media access to echo this sentiment, not so much as to make sure IW's ass is canned, but as to create an opportunity for the general public to understand this kind of crap language needs to stop. I think that's the bigger story here."
Posted by: Kurt |
Great point Kurt, and I think the stage has been set for that. Gay people are finally realizing that you have to 'speak up' to make changes, even if means ruffling feathers in the process. To have Ellen break her code of silence around the gay issue and address this TR is a sign things are about to change big time in Hollywood.
But it doesn't stop with people in the entertainment industry, us too have to use our voices wherever we are to speak up, I've seen the difference it makes every time.
Posted by: Da | Jan 19, 2007 2:56:51 PM
So, Charles, because there isn't enough collective indignation when predictably homophobic leaders of anti-gay organizations spout off hate, then we are suppose to just shut up about Washington's. Our culture is one of celebrity worship. So, the way you spread the message that anti-gay sentiment will not be tolerated is to take advantage of situations like this. Television shows depend on the public to be successful, James Dobson doesn't. We have little control over what Focus on the Family does, but we have some control here. Oh, and maybe you haven't been to the same websites that I have been to, but gay people have exhibited quite a bit of indignation against Focus, Dobson and other anti-gay reps. Maybe you're just not looking hard enough.
Posted by: dattexas | Jan 19, 2007 3:03:29 PM
No worries SoulBrotha - gotta reprezent : )
Posted by: Giovanni | Jan 19, 2007 3:05:57 PM