Isaiah Washington Thanks Sandra Oh for Helping Him Return to Grey’s Anatomy

Isaiah Washington Shares How Sandra Oh Helped Him Return to Grey’s Anatomy After Being Fired: ‘She Won That Battle…’

Isaiah Washington recently revealed that Sandra Oh was the main reason he came back to Grey’s Anatomy in 2014 — years after he was fired from the show after a fight with Patrick Dempsey.

On April 23, Washington posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Sandra Oh fought for his return. He wrote, “Sandra Oh was the key to getting me to come back in 2014. She refused to leave the show without my return and she won that battle. I love me some Sandra Oh!”

Even though his comeback was short, it was important. His character, Dr. Preston Burke, helped wrap up Cristina Yang’s story when she left in Season 10. In the show, Dr. Burke offered Cristina a whole hospital in Switzerland, giving her a chance to grow her career even more.

Fans were surprised to see Washington back on the show, especially because of the way he left. Back in 2006, he got into a fight with Patrick Dempsey (who played Dr. Derek Shepherd) and was reported to have used a homophobic slur about co-star T.R. Knight.
At that time, Knight wasn’t publicly out, and the incident caused a lot of backlash. Washington was later fired from the show in 2007.

Sandra Oh never directly spoke about her role in bringing Washington back, but she has always shown how much she cared about her character, Cristina Yang.
In a 2020 interview for Variety’s Actors on Actors with Kerry Washington, Sandra said, “What I was able to get from Grey’s is to have the responsibility and relationship with the writer to help guide where Cristina’s story was going.”

She also shared that she often argued with Shonda Rhimes and the writers to protect Cristina’s storylines. Sandra said, “I don’t feel I gave up,” and called her work on Cristina’s journey her biggest achievement on the show.

For a long time, Sandra Oh said she wouldn’t return to Grey’s Anatomy. But recently, during an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she left a little hope for fans.
“For the longest time, it has always been a hard no, and now it’s just… I don’t know,” she said.

Sandra explained that she doesn’t feel the need to go back, but she understands how much fans love Cristina Yang. “That’s the part that makes me just go, ‘hmmm,’” she added — hinting that a return isn’t completely off the table.

Would you want to see Sandra Oh return as Cristina Yang on Grey’s Anatomy?

• Yes, absolutely!
• Maybe, if the story is right
• No, Cristina’s story ended perfectly

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