There's Something About Isaiah

There's something about Isaiah Washington that stirs up controversy about sexuality. A year ago I posted an article on this site about Black Men And AIDS and used a stock photo of Isaiah Washington playing the role of Dr. Preston Burke on the hit TV show "Grey's Anatomy." The point was to show a black male doctor, but the photo led to a torrent of critical comments questioning why I would use Washington's image to talk about AIDS and sexuality.

Now it seems that Washington and his TV co-star T.R. Knight have developed a feud of their own about Knight's sexuality. Knight came out of the closet recently after Washington reportedly called him a "faggot" and created tension in the cast. Then when Grey's Anatomy won an award at the Golden Globes on Monday, Washington stepped to the reporters at a media interview and denied calling Knight a "faggot." The use of the term again, and his denial of the earlier statement, set off a whole new round of controversy, and ultimately Washington issued an apology last night. Which leads me to wonder: Is this much ado about nothing or a real controversy?