Shonda Rhimes Says the Grey's Anatomy Cast Is 'Still Traumatized' by Isaiah Washington Scandal, Thought It Would 'Kill the Show'

Shonda Rhimes thought that the Isaiah Washington scandal that surrounded Grey's Anatomy nearly two decades ago would be the show's final straw.

The show's creator recalled the controversy that emerged after Washington, who played Dr. Preston Burke, used a homophobic slur on set and was fired from the series in 2007. "That was the thing we thought was going to kill the show," she told The Hollywood Reporter.

The scandal made the "bubble of joy" from the show's success in its two-year run "burst so early," Rhimes recalled.

"And it’s funny, every Grey’s actor I talk to who was there during that time is still traumatized by that incident," she revealed. "People still talk about it."

Eventually, given the show's continued success — it was renewed for its 21st season in April, making it the longest-running primetime medical drama ever — Rhimes, 55, said the positives meant the incident "stopped mattering," but the sting of the scandal remains. "I mean, that was the thing we thought was going to kill the show," she repeated.

Washington used the f-word slur during an on-set spat with Patrick Dempsey, he later admitted on Larry King Live in July 2007. In the interview, he said the "f-word" was not intended to be anti-gay, as he said, "I am not homophobic — in no way, shape or form," but speculation persisted that he'd used the slur in reference specifically to costar T.R. Knight.

He later repeated the slur backstage at the Golden Globes as he continued to deny ever using the word in reference to Knight, and he then issued another apology for using the word again.

"I can neither defend nor explain my behavior. I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I’ve asked for help," he said at the time.

Addressing Knight, who is gay, directly, he said, "T.R.’s courage throughout this entire episode speaks to his tremendous character. I hold his talent, and T.R. as a person, in high esteem. I know a mere apology will not end this, and I intend to let my future actions prove my sincerity.”

In a 2021 book by Lynette Rice, the incident was examined again as new details emerged about the fight between Dempsey and Washington.

Mark Wilding, who wrote the episode that caused the riff, said in How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey's Anatomy that things "sort of exploded" between the costars on back-to-back days that one of them was late to set.

"They got into an arguing match, and then before you know it they were physically fighting. I was standing there in video village," he recalled.

Writer Harry Werksman was also there and saw the incident go down, and he shared in the book, "Isaiah, for whatever reason that day, just took that the wrong way and he went after Patrick. I guess he felt disrespected that he and the crew had been waiting. He went after Patrick, pushed him up against the wall, and said, 'You can't talk to me the way you talk to that little f----- T.R.' "

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Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET on ABC.