I get a lot of emails asking me if Burke (Isaiah Washington) is ever going to come back to the show and the truth of the matter is that I don’t know.

On the other hand, Ausiello has contacts in higher places than I do, so let’s see what he has to say on the subject of Isaiah Washington coming back to Grey’s:

Um, no.

So, there you have it.

But Ausiello had more to say than simply that. He also revealed that Shonda Rhimes was entertaining the idea of having George join the military (in pursuit of a McArmy title?) and head off to Iraq. That would’ve been George’s send off.

That idea - according to sources - has since been “scrapped and replaced with ’something even better.’”

We don’t yet know what the idea is.

How would you write George and Izzie off the show? And are you disappointed that there doesn’t seem to be hope for Burke coming back?

Via | EW - Ausiello Files

Image: Newscom

Isaiah Washington will be appearing on American Urban Radio’s ‘Bev Smith Show’ to promote the launch of his ‘Reach One Million’ campaign. The campaign is meant to benefit the people of Sierra Leone. If you’d like to catch him on the show, be sure to tune in on August 11th during the 7pm (EST) hour.

For more information about the cause, head over to www.reachonemillion.org. The campaign is hoping to raise $250,000 and it’s currently at $1,360. So, do consider donating.

• $5 - Help feed a child In Sierra Leone for a week
• $10 - Keep children safe from malaria with chemically-treated bed nets
• $50 - Provide an education for a child for a year
• $100 - Assist with erecting a water well in a child’s village
• $1,000 - Aid in building a new school for children
• $5,000 - Erect a water well for a local village

Edit: Fixed the URL! Sorry about that.

served by picapp.com

In his continued efforts to make amends to the gay community for the offensive name-calling that eventually led to him being fired from Grey’s Anatomy, actor Isaiah Washington has made a very generous donation to the Equality California fund.

Equality California is working toward stopping an anti-marriage amendment currently in the works.

This donation comes on the heals of openly gay sports and entertainment publicist Howard Bragman’s request to his peers that they donate to Equality California. Looks like a lot of people have taken his request to heart and opened up their wallets to the cause.

Isaiah Washington’s donation was confirmed by Bragman himself: “Chuck and I were very touched by his generosity and his support of this cause, and we expect many other high-profile contributions. He said  he wishes us all the best and he supports the rights of others in our community to get married.”

It’s nice to see Isaiah Washington getting some positive press. Looks like he’s come a long way in his beliefs. Who knows, maybe someday we’ll get to see Dr. Burke on Grey’s Anatomy again. Not that I’m holding my breath on that, but it would still be nice to put that ugly mess behind us.

Via | Out Sports

Ex-Grey’s Anatomy stars, Kate Walsh and Isaiah Washington were asked about their thoughts regarding Katherine Heigl’s recent no-Emmy decision and her comments regarding the writers. Their responses were pretty generic and they boiled down to … well absolutely nothing concrete. Isaiah Washington says he understands “both sides” and Kate Walsh loves “going to work every day.” It’s pretty clear neither wanted to say too much.

I thought it was rather interesting that Washington said that he wants to “help out” in any way he can and that he’s “open to it.” Whatever “it” is. Does that mean he’s open to taking Katherine Heigl’s spot if she gets written off the show? Heh.

Via | Grey’s Anatomy UK

I’m amazingly not surprised to hear this bit of news. When I saw Isaiah Washington’s picture on last week’s episode I thought, “Hmm, I wonder how Mr. Washington feels about that?” Well, it looks like he’s rather upset about it. Indeed, the former Grey’s Anatomy actor has filed a complaint against ABC for the use of his image.

The actor has stated that the network has “no right” to use his image without permission. His attorney, Peter Nelson, has written both to ABC and SAG (Screen Actors Guild) over the matter, citing, “They have the rights of the character to advance the story, but not the image.”

A financial settlement is expected.

What do you think about this? Do you think he’s right to file a complaint over this matter or do you think he should get over it and move on? I think this is one of those grey areas (no pun intended!) in which either side can probably build a good argument. However, ABC will probably settle just to get the matter resolved with as quickly as possible.

Via | AHN

Used with permission from www.splashnewsonline.com

Some of the Grey’s Anatomy cast joined the writers picket lines again on Wednesday. Guess who else was there? Isaiah Washington! (Did the picture of him with the big sign give it away?) They really do seem to support the writers. Now someone strike a deal already!!

Even without a script, the cast of “Grey’s Anatomy” generated plenty of drama Wednesday when they showed up to support picketing writers outside the fabled Paramount Studios lot.

Katherine Heigl, who plays Izzie Stevens, and T.R. Knight, who plays her on-screen love interest George O’Malley, were posing for pictures and giving interviews - when controversial former cast member Isaiah Washington showed up. Washington, who played Dr. Preston Burke, was fired from the show in June amid tension that began when he allegedly used a gay slur to refer to Knight and used the word again during a Golden Globes appearance.

Read the rest of the article here.

Star Jones, former cohost of The View, is set to interview Isaiah Washington for her upcoming CourtTV show.

How does this all relate to Jones’ law-themed show? ”[Washington is] clearly in the middle of a story that involves law and ethics and values and judgment,” Jones said. ”But also, he has a brand-new show that brings up ethical considerations. We’re excited about The Bionic Woman, but there are ethical considerations [there] because we in our technology right now are moving to replacing limbs, and we’re moving in the whole area of stem cell research, we’re moving in the area of cloning and whether or not it can actually be done with a human. And in reality, that’s what you’re doing with The Bionic Woman, you’re playing God. And so I get an opportunity to talk about those kinds of issues.”

So for those of you still interested in hearing what Isaiah Washington has to say about things (past, present, and future), be sure to tune in. The show airs on August 20th on CourtTV, and Isaiah will be appearing on the first episode.

Via | EW

A recent article in Yahoo! highlights ABC as primetime’s most gay friendly network for its strides toward gay and lesbian visibility. And though they mention the Isaiah Washington’s dismissal, they make it clear that GLAAD does not count that as a plus:

More recently, producers of the ABC hit medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” fired actor Isaiah Washington from the show in June after he reportedly made an anti-gay slur during a heated argument on the set with other cast members.

But GLAAD spokesman Damon Romine said ABC received no extra points for Washington’s dismissal.

“This is all about representations on the screen,” he said. “Our overall concern is increasing the inclusivity of the networks and having our lives be more visible.”

I’m glad, at least, that ABC isn’t getting brownie points for firing Isaiah, but congratulations to ABC on the rest.

Via | Yahoo!

Isaiah Washington has been cast for a five episode role on NBC’s Bionic Woman.

“We feel he is the right actor for the role, but also we believe in second chances,” Smilovic told the reporters here Tuesday. “We are not here to make judgments.”

“When somebody does something wrong and you have a systemic problem, the best way to change that problem is not by casting them outside of the system,” Smilovic continued, now on a roll.

“It’s by allowing them to make amends, allowing them to make reparations and to do the right thing. So rather than excommunicate someone, we felt it was better to give him a second chance.”

For those on Washington’s side, it’s good to see him getting roles. We’ll see if the five episode role gets extended or not. It’s always possible if the audience reacts well to Washington in a new role.

Via | Washington Post

Isaiah Washington is continuing to defend himself, now saying that his homophobic slur wasn’t directly aimed at T.R. Knight. On Larry King, he said:

“I felt sorry for myself,” the 43-year-old actor told Larry King Monday night. “I’m not going to lie. I felt sorry for myself many times. You fall into that little space and go, ‘Why me? Why me?’ “

The interview was filmed last Friday and was the first one he has done since being fired. He said that during his period of obsessing over the altercation with Patrick Dempsey and the infamous slur that he swears wasn’t directed at T.R., he even found himself online, reading everything that was being said.

“Unfortunately, I did what a lot of my peers and friends said you don’t do,” he said, “and that is to go to IMDB [the Internet movie database Web site, imdb.com] or your blogs and read what they are saying about you.”

Supposedly he actually tried to resign from “Grey’s” twice, as though expecting that he would be fired, knowing that something was coming. He also says that he regrets that he was rattled by a reporter at the Golden Globes when he implied that yes he had called T.R. by a homophobic slur.

(Source)