Tue Jun 19 2007 18:04:49 By: NR ( 1)
Burke, Burke, Burke…
Burke–verb (used with object), burked, burk•ing.
To murder, as by suffocation, so as to leave no or few marks of violence.
There’s a bit of irony in all of this Burke business. Actor Isaiah Washington single-handedly managed to burke his own career by doing what he gets paid to do—opening his mouth. But his public ad-libbing only deterred viewers from focusing on the show’s plot and its characters. He was too much a loose cannon in the press. As if the whole TR thing weren’t enough, the guy goes on Oprah and says that Ellen Pompeo was glad that he didn’t get the part of “McDreamy” (and he does this while sitting next to Pompeo with her fiancé seated in the audience). The implication was that Pompeo’s fiancé would be jealous if her on-screen love interest was an African-American (as her fiancé happens to be). The audience could only respond with nervous laughter after the awkward moment. He embarrassed his cast mate in public only because felt it necessary to feed his insatiable ego. Pompeo reacted to his thoughtless remark with class and she gracefully shrugged it off. Then on Nightline, he implied that the reason ABC didn’t give him the part of McDreamy is because Americans couldn’t accept that kind of interracial coupling. The thing is, one of the hallmarks of the show is that it doesn’t focus on surface issues such as race, gender, or sexual orientation—and I say, leave those topics to the intellectually lazy. Let it go, people...

Tue Jun 19 2007 18:05:33 By: Agent Smith ( 5412)
Tired of all this Isaiah Washington crap.
I mean, Michael Richards, Don Imus and Mel Gibson do far worse (well, not worse in Imus' case-- that was just damn funny), and when's the last we heard of them?? Certainly I can't remember... but one black guy calls a white guy a f***** and they pretty much crucify him.
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Where are Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson on this one? How 'bout a little defense of a fellow man of your race boys?? Huh?
They both made a big stink about Richards, Gibson and Imus, but don't use their power and influence to defend a black man who has apologized numerous times? Why aren't they battling ABC over his firing from Grey's?? WTF?
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Through this inaction, the ACLU and NAACP have shown their, ahem, true colors and proven, to me at least, that it's all money first, race second.
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A@#$%^&*.

Sat Jun 23 2007 13:59:05 By: scott39 ( 1)
As a gay man, I feel that Isaiah Washington should not have been fired. He did everything that was asked of him from apologizing to making a PSA...I totally believe that Shonda Rhimes (sp) and ABC executives back stabbed Isaiah. To myself words are just words, but if you have a tough skin, you can overcome it, but I guess in T R Knight's case he just needs to grow some *****.

Fri Jun 29 2007 03:11:36 By: kkane78 ( 1)
I think Isaiah Washington (Dr. Burke) was a great actor and character. Do I think people make mistakes? Absolutely. Do I think he shouldn't have said what he said? Absolutely. He apologized so lets move on. However, NBC decided to fire him. Well....it was there decision. He also created some other drama with Patrick Dempsey. They didn't want him anymore. So what do I think about him using "racism" as a scapegoat? It's ridiculous. Why does it have something to do with race? C'mon! That is just a reason to reply to all of the negativity he must be receiving. Why do we all keep bringing race in as a factor. Give me a break! If T.R. Knight called him the "N" word, he would have been immediately fired so why is it OK to call him the "F" word. I hope someday Washington does read this and he gets a reality check. It's not race buddy....get over yourself!

Thu Aug 9 2007 10:51:33 By: VOYAJAH ( 1)
I think they wanted to get rid of Washington anyway, and they found a good cover. If they really wanted him to return to the show, they would have accepted his apologies, and found a way to cover their asses as well.