TV Guide's Michael Aussiello is reporting that Isaiah Washington is not being invited back for another season on 'Grey's Anatomy.' (That's a polite way of saying 'you're fired.') In a report last night Aussiello writes:
One insider, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation, speculated that the decision was likely due only in part to the T.R. Knight homophobic-slur scandal and the subsequent fallout. "There was a pattern of problematic behavior going back before he used the F-word," says my spy. "I imagine [his dismissal] was the result of all of that."

To my mind, calling T.R. Knight a faggot on the set was and always has been an employment issue at heart. Most large companies don't allow employees to call their colleagues offensive names that violate non-discrimination guidelines, which I assume ABC has in place.

If there were other behavior issues, too, I'm sure that those, combined with the bad PR Washington brought to the show and the network, helped his employers determine that firing him was the lesser of two evils. I certainly don't think they are getting rid of him now just based on the anti-gay slur that happened months ago. But that's fine. His firing still sends a message.

Oh, and can I just say that I still can't believe the NAACP had the gumption to honor the actor with an Image Award? That just blew me away. Washington is not a role model, and that award was a slap in the face to the gay community.

The puff-piece PSA he did for GLAAD and homophobia-rehab notwithstanding, in being fired from his high-paying gig as a TV actor, Washington hopefully will truly learn a lesson about what he did: Discriminatory language has no place at work.

Meanwhile, I think we can all give a cheer for T.R. Knight who is staying, and he got a raise, and he's adorably nice.

A cup of karma, anyone?