'Haters have won': 'Grey's Anatomy' alum Isaiah Washington announces RETIREMENT from acting in a Twitter rant
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Social media can be a pretty dark place sometimes. Sure, we get to know what kind of atrocities are happening on the other side of the world, but things can get really ugly on social media platforms and ruin someone’s career if trolls start attacking them ruthlessly. A lot of celebrities and notable personalities move away from social media so that they can be at peace, but it seems ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star Isaiah Washington had enough of brutal trolling and took the drastic decision of early retirement from acting.
The 59-year-old actor announced his retirement in a lengthy tweet on his official Twitter account and noted that the “haters have won” because he has decided to leave Hollywood. The ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ alumni didn’t shy away from pointing out that the prior criticisms he received for his character on the show played an integral part in taking this step. However, he didn’t want to escalate that issue on a global stage and just focused on thanking people who supported him throughout his career.
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“It is with a heavy heart and a sense of relief that I am announcing my early retirement from the entertainment industry today. Those who have been following/Witnessing my journey here on Twitter since 2011 all know that I have fought the good fight, but it seems that the haters, provocateurs, and Useful Idiots have won. I’m no longer interested in the back and forth regarding a ‘color construct’ that keeps us human beings divided nor am I interested in politics or anything vitriolic,” tweeted Washington.
The actor also shared his post-retirement plans and said, “I will be traveling this great country before it falls into Socialism and then Communism.”
Washington also noted that his last film as an actor, titled ‘Corsicana’, will be released soon. But what made Washington take that drastic decision? Let’s take a look at what actually happened.
Why was Washington fired from ‘Grey’s Anatomy’?
Washington was one of the actors who made his appearance on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ when the show was originally launched. In other words, he was an original cast member of the show. Everything was running smoothly and Washington was receiving a lot of praise for his acting. But things went downhill in 2007 when it was announced that the actor has been fired from the show for using a homophobic slur against co-star TR Knight. The news spread like a wildfire and things started getting worse for the star.
At first, he vehemently denied all the allegations at the Golden Globes that took place in 2007. However, he apologized for his behavior after some time and noted that he has “asked for help.” He added, “I can neither defend nor explain my behavior. I can also no longer deny to myself that there are issues I obviously need to examine within my own soul, and I've asked for help.”
In 2007, NBC decided to cast Washington as a guest star in the series ‘Bionic Woman’. The actor hoped that it would make his life easy, but that didn’t happen. The series was canceled after just one season and didn’t make a comeback.
The actor did everything that the network and the makers of the show wanted him to and believed that he can start over. But soon he realized that his vision was way different than the vision makers had for him. They didn’t want him to be an integral part of the show as he was earlier and that started to show when he made a comeback. Washington joined the show in Season 10 and was just used as a guest star in the series.
In an interview given in 2014, the star opened up about his life after ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and said he doesn’t “worry” about the stories that people come out with. He added, “I don't worry about whether or not the stories I tell will destroy my acting career because you can't take away something that doesn't exist. They killed the actor [in me] on June 7, 2007.”
Since 2014, Washington has been seen in several ventures such as ‘The 100’, ‘Blue Bloods’, ‘Dead Trigger’, ‘Tales’, and ‘P-Valley’.