Isaiah Washington, who played Dr. Burke on Grey's Anatomy up until 2007 when he was fired after shouting a gay slur at one of his co-stars, says he was disgusted by his former show for firing Brooke "put the lotion in the basket" Smith. US Weekly reports:

"I looked at a brilliant actress, whom I have adored since I first saw her in Silence of the Lambs," he says in the Nov. 17 issue of TV Guide. "For her to be treated this way, I find very interesting."


Grey's creator Shonda Rhimes released a statement last week insisting that "Brooke Smith was obviously not fired for playing a lesbian .... we did not find that the magic and chemistry with Brooke's character would sustain in the long run."


Regardless, Washington says the move was harsh.



"The fact is that, just before the holidays, you have a mother, a wonderful actress removed from a steady income without the proper reasoning behind it..." he says.

"You look at the way another consummate professional [is] being treated because her character, her story line [has] potentially made producers uncomfortable.

"

He says Rhimes is getting the raw deal.



"Now that I see what they're doing to a show that I love and I care about, I think it's disgusting," Washington continues. "The fact that Shonda has been put in this position is extremely unfair.



"It's unfortunate because it was probably, at the time, the most progressive show on television," he says. "Now I see it [being] systematically torn apart."



Let me get this straight. So Washington was fired because he called a co-star a faggot, but the producers of the show fire someone else because they didn't like how their character was turning out, and now they're disgusting?

You know what's really disgusting? An actor desperately trying to get attention. He does realize that Brooke Smith isn't actually a lesbian, right? And that if she were, he'd be about the last person in Hollywood she'd want to come to her defense?

Oh, and about her getting fired before the holidays, I'm sure Smith made more money over the past year than at any point during her entire career, so I seriously doubt the folks at ABC are going to lose much sleep over it.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Allure magazine of Ellen Pompeo, who's still actually on Grey's Anatomy. I've heard that while she doesn't exactly blow you away on TV, in person she's much more attractive. I was skeptical when I was first told this, but this picture has me thinking it could be true.