Isaiah Washington: ‘They Fired The Wrong Guy’

Isaiah Washington said he was shocked when he got the call from “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes telling him he would not be back next season.

And now in a new interview with the Houston Chronicle, Washington is firing back, insisting he should not have been the one to go.

“They fired the wrong guy,” Washington insisted. “I have to clear my name. I’ll start from the beginning. I’m telling everything. So here’s the truth.”

Washington thrust himself into the center of the storm when he uttered anti-gay remarks about co-star T.R. Knight. But now, Washington claims Knight should have been the one to take the fall.

“I feel all this was about him getting a raise and getting his character to stop being perceived as a dopey, cooky kind of character. He perceives himself as a leading man. That’s why you could see the change this past season. That was his whole impetus behind it,” Washington said. “I was used and I was exploited. I may be wrong but that’s how I feel about it.”

When contacted by Access Hollywood, a rep for Washington said, “Isaiah does stand by his statement that he thinks T.R. should have been fired and not him.”

In fact, Washington says when he used the slur on-set, it wasn’t even directed at Knight, who openly admitted he was gay in January.

“I used the word during a disagreement with Patrick [Dempsey]. I apologized for that. We shook hands and went back to work,” Washington told the Houston Chronicle.

He also revealed he is considering a lawsuit over his dismissal from the show.

“I was not fired for making homophobic slurs,” he added. “I did everything I said I would do. I offered to go to counseling, to do a public service announcement. I wanted everyone to know I was remorseful… I did everything they told me to do, including not saying anything, and then they didn’t renew my contract. That’s not fair.”

The 43-year-old actor also dismissed any notion that is homophobic.

“I knew T.R. was gay but I would never attack him because of his sexual orientation. That’s stupid. I’ve been working with lesbian and gays for 21 years in this business. My whole existence has coexisted evenly and beautifully with individuals who happen to be gay, but more importantly are immensely talented,” Washington said. “There’s no way in my mind and my heart I could be homophobic.”

When contacted by Access Hollywood, ABC, Touchstone, & a rep for Knight all had no comment.