'Grey's' Star: I Felt I Was Treated Like an N-Word

July 3, 2007 — -- First there was McSteamy, then there was McDreamy, and now there's McBlamey.

Isaiah Washington, who formerly played a surgeon on "Grey's Anatomy," not only blamed his co-star Patrick Dempsey on "Larry King Live" for his erupting on set with a homophobic slur, but he said he felt he was treated like "an N-word."

Concerning a heated argument Washington had with Dempsey over his tardiness, Washington told King, "I wish I would have said, 'I wish you didn't treat me like an N-word,' because that's how I felt. That's how I felt."

Washington said it was Dempsey repeatedly arriving late to the set that got him worked up in the first place, and that T.R. Knight, who plays George O'Malley, had nothing to do with the argument.

According to Washington, Dempsey arrived late yet again and refused to shoot without their co-star Ellen Pompeo.

Washington responded, "Well, I don't need Ellen. I can act."

King asked what he meant by this, and Washington reassured viewers and King that this meant implicitly that Dempsey can't act.

As Washington sees it, this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Washington told King, "He got un-...became unhinged, face-to-face, he sprayed spittle in my face...And I'm asking why is he screaming at me. 'Get out of my face'...And by that time I pushed him out of my face and it just took off from there."

Washington added, "I began to say a lot of things I'm not really proud of...I said, 'There's no way you're going to treat me like a B-word or a P-word or the F-word. You can't treat me this way in front of the crew.'"

Washington also admitted he did not think about the repercussions of using the F-word.

"Before this took off in this direction, in terms of sexual orientation, it meant something -- it meant, to me, someone who is being weak," added Washington.

First Washington blamed Dempsey for his outburst. Then he went on to blame the media for misreporting the incident.

"It was printed erroneously in the National Enquirer," said Washington. "The New York Post picked it up and then it was worldwide. And anytime you allegedly reportedly say something that is -- it's going to spread like wildfire on the Internet."

Washington said that the actors reconciled after the scuffle.