In 2007, during an argument, actor Isaiah Washington was accused of calling a fellow actor a “faggot” on the set of “Grey’s Anatomy,” and then using the word again backstage at the Golden Globes. Washington was immediately fired from the hit TV show and then banished by Hollywood for years. In an interview with HuffPo Live, Washington says he was “persecuted” by Hollywood after the incident. He not only lost his job; he lost his home and his career.
Washington’s IMDB profile certainly backs that claim up.
Washington still denies using the anti-gay slur, but after six years of being banished and blacklisted by Hollywood, only now is the actor able to start putting his career and life back together. Guilty or not, Washington paid an extraordinary price — including millions of dollars in lost salary, public condemnation, and a scarlet letter forever next to his name.
One wonders, then, after all he has been through, what Washington makes of Alec Baldwin.
If you recall, back in June, and in front of the whole world on Twitter, Baldwin not only hurled homophobic slurs at a gay reporter, he also called for violence against the man.
The result of Baldwin’s homophobic tirade, though, was much different than what Washington went through. Baldwin’s hate speech was not only covered-up by almost all of the mainstream media, including NBC News and CNN; just a few months later Baldwin was awarded a television show on MSNBC — the left-leaning network that promotes itself as gay-friendly.
Moreover, Baldwin faced no serious blowback from Hollywood Power for his violent homophobic tirade. By all accounts, Baldwin remains a mega-star in good standing, and one who can be seen on television daily as a pitchman for a major credit card company.
In the wake of his anti-gay hate speech, Baldwin’s career is actually on the upswing.
But why would Alec Baldwin be given a pass for hate speech that was arguably much worse than anything Washington is accused of saying?
Both are left-wingers.
Both are/were television stars.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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