Isaiah Washington: Ellen Pompeo Was Paid Not to Discuss Toxic 'Grey's' Set

Isaiah Washington reflected on the 'Grey's Anatomy' scandal that altered his career and made new claims about the ABC show — all the details

Not holding back. While reflecting on his past roles, Isaiah Washington called out his experience on the allegedly “toxic” Grey’s Anatomy set as an example of mistreatment.

“Every single day I was a problem that was being reminded, ‘You’re No. 4 on the call sheet. You’re not the star of this show,”‘ Washington, 58, told Tavis Smiley from KBLA Talk 1580 radio on October 21.

From the Living Single alum’s perspective, his time on the medical drama was just a prelude to him being “used as a scapegoat” to cover up other problems on set. Washington used his 2007 firing, after he allegedly used a homophobic slur, as an example of the supposed “agenda.”

“It was easy. I didn’t know that it would stick to me so hard. But I found out why,” he claimed. “It was an agenda to cover up for the toxic and bad behavior of many of my former castmates on that show. And the top of that would be Patrick Dempsey.”

Washington’s allegations against costars including Dempsey, 55, come after a recently released book, How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy, brought back the conversation about the fight that led to his exit. In Lynette Rice‘s tell-all, writer Mark Wilding opened up about the explosive fight between the P-Valley star and the Sweet Home Alabama star.

“It was my episode. I think one of them had been late to set one day and the other one then decided to pay him back by being late himself. Then it sort of exploded,” Wilding detailed. “They got into an arguing match, and then before you know it they were physically fighting. I was standing there in video village. I’m, like, six feet four inches. I’m bigger than both of them. But I didn’t really jump in right away because I’m like, I don’t know if I want to get involved.”

At the time, it was reported that Washington used a slur in reference to his costar T.R. Knight, which he denied. He previously provided his perspective in the book, saying, “We learned that we [had] to watch what we say. We [had] to make sure we [were] more accountable.”

Washington continued: “I did everything that the producers and the network asked me to do. I came back under great stress, and thought I was doing the job I was hired to do. I thought that was going to speak for my future at Grey’s, but apparently that wasn’t the same vision that the network and studio had for me.”

The Loverboy star, for his part, noted, “I think the explosion really healed the show. No one passed the buck, and everyone owned up to the situation and moved on.”

Us Weekly has reached out to reps for Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo.

Scroll down for all the allegations that Washington made about his former costars when it came to his time on Grey’s Anatomy: