Grey’s Anatomy EP Thought Isaiah Washington Scandal Would Cancel Show 

Short Rhes initially thought the drama surrounding Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah Washington’s controversial exit would end in the show’s cancellation.

“I think the thorn was having the bubble of joy burst so early on Grey’s and not having anybody interested in helping us deal with it because that really shaped a lot of how we looked at the world going forward and a lot of how Betsy (Beersmy fellow show producer) and I processed working with other people going forward,” Rhimes, 55, told The Hollywood Reporter in a profile published on Wednesday, March 19. “I mean, that was the thing we thought was going to kill the show.”

She added, “It’s funny, every Grey’s actor I talk to who was there during that time is still traumatized by that incident. People still talk about it. So, that was the thorn, but I also think that there were so many roses that the thorn stopped mattering. I mean, that was the thing we thought was going to kill the show.”

Washington, now 61, starred as Dr. Preston Burke in the early seasons of Grey’swhose character was best known for his one-time engagement to Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh). He was ultimately written off the show in 2007 after allegedly using a homophobic slur during an argument with costar Patrick Dempsey. (Washington later made a cameo in 2014’s season 10 to help send off Oh’s Cristina when she exited the series.)

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According to Washington, he was reportedly upset that Dempsey, now 59, arrived late to work that day. (Dempsey, who portrayed Derek Shepherd, left Grey’s in season 11.)

“That was the moment that sent it into a different zone,” Washington claimed during a 2007 interview on Larry King Live. “(Patrick) became unhinged, sprayed spittle in my face. … I said several bad words. ‘There’s no way you’re going to treat me like the B-word, the P-word or the F-word.’”

Grey’s, however, hasn’t slowed down since Washinton’s scandal — and is still airing new episodes.

“It’s 21 seasons in!” Rhimes quipped to THR. “Someone told me (my regency-set show) Bridgerton was the most watched show on Netflix last year with minutes and Grey’s was the second most watched show last year with minutes, and I thought, ‘That’s insane.’ So, the roses definitely outweighed any thorn.”

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According to Rhimes, she also hadn’t anticipated any offscreen drama when she started writing the first episodes of Grey’s.

“It was certainly not a challenge I was looking for. It was also not a challenge I expected,” she recalled to the outlet. “When we partnered with (producer) Mark Gordon and Betsy, I remember thinking, ‘Well, they’ll have to deal with all that stuff and I’ll just write,’ and later realizing that’s absolutely not the way it works. If you are the creative brain, you not only have to share your brain with other people, but also everybody looks to you as the leader. I had to figure out how to be a great leader, and that took a while.”