T.R. Knight Sounds Off On Co-Star’s Anti-Gay Slur

LOS ANGELES --

LOS ANGELES (January 17, 2007) --T.R. Knight was left virtually speechless as he visited “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to talk about the homophobic remarks made by his “Grey’s Anatomy” co-star Isaiah Washington.

And while Knight was obviously bothered (and rightly so) about the on-set incident, in which Knight says ended with Washington calling him a “faggot,” he was equally upset that Washington denied using the slur during a press conference at Monday’s Golden Globes.

“Everyone heard it,” Knight told Ellen on Tuesday. “I don?t know what to say, really, about that.”

“I don’t either,” Ellen replied. “It seems like at this point and time we should not say hateful words to one another.”

During the incident on the set, Washington and Patrick Dempsey were about to shoot a scene when they began to argue. As Knight was around the corner, he heard Washington call him a “faggot.”

I’ve never been called that to my face,” Knight told Ellen. “When that happened, something shifted and it became bigger than myself.”

Shortly after the incident in an interview with People magazine, Knight revealed that he was gay.

“My friends on the set knew. We talked about it. I was not under any delusions that they didn’t know, but publicly it’s not my thing to call up People magazine and be like ‘Hey, you want to know something about me?’” Knight added. “I could’ve just let it slide and not said anything but it became important.”

Knight also said that he looked to Ellen for inspiration in making the decision to come out publicly.

“It made all the difference in the world,” an emotional Knight said of Ellen’s announcement that she was gay, which happened nearly 10 years ago. “It’s just very moving and it just meant so much.”

“Well, what you’re doing is going to mean something to other people that are seeing it,” Ellen told T.R. “You’re an amazing guy. I’m proud of you.”

Washington’s denial came at the Golden Globes after “Grey’s Anatomy” had won the award for best TV drama.

During one of the Golden Globes after parties, “Grey’s” Katherine Heigl spoke to Access Hollywood, as she lashed out at Washington’s remarks. CLICK HERE to read what Katherine had to say!

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