Gray area: How will ‘Anatomy’ fix the damage?

updated 5:40 p.m. ET Jan. 23, 2007

LOS ANGELES - Friendships betrayed, careers at stake — how will the drama spilling from behind the camera into real life on “Grey’s Anatomy” affect the future of the smash-hit TV series?

Whatever the consequences of actor Isaiah Washington’s use of an anti-gay slur to describe castmate T.R. Knight, the pressure is on series creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes to restore order among the cast of the soapy medical drama.

Millions of advertising dollars for ABC and corporate parent Walt Disney Co. are riding on her ability to keep the show healthy.

On Thursday, ABC chastised Washington for using the term “faggot” about Knight in an on-set dust-up in October with co-star Patrick Dempsey and then using the slur again at this week’s Golden Globes as he denied ever uttering it.

Later Thursday, Washington, who’s gotten hold of the biggest role of his career on “Grey’s Anatomy,” conceded using the invective and issued a heartfelt apology. But it was unclear whether it would mollify Knight or co-star Katherine Heigl, who had leaped to his defense.

A program relies on the executive producer, dubbed a “showrunner,” to set the tone, especially when a crisis hits, said writer-producers Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman (“Queer as Folk,” “Sisters”).

“You’re very much in charge, in control, and people look up to you in that way,” said Lipman. “They will follow suit in how you handle it.”

He and Cowen once had to deal with an actor whose public remarks had infuriated fellow cast members, who then snubbed him. The man chose not to return for another season and “frankly, we would have decided that as well,” Cowen said, declining to identify the actor.

The ABC statement, which said it was addressing Washington’s actions but didn’t specify how, came a day after a gay and lesbian advocacy group demanded the actor apologize. He did in his three-paragraph statement Thursday.

“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,” the statement said. “... I know a mere apology will not end this, and I intend to let my future actions prove my sincerity.”

Calls seeking comment from Rhimes and Knight were not immediately returned. ABC declined to expand on its statement.

The hit show now in its third season hasn’t so far suffered from his behavior, at least in the ratings: It drew 22 million viewers in the week before the verbal slur was reported last fall, while the episode last week was watched by 23 million.

Morale on the set may be another matter. Washington plays respected surgeon Preston Burke, and Knight is intern George O’Malley; the characters bonded when O’Malley bunked at Burke’s house, and again when Burke helped advise on care for O’Malley’s ill father.

“Only Rhimes and the cast know whether this rift can be mended, if they can go on, or if it can’t be,” Cowen said. “Will an apology suffice, will it make everything OK? If not, then you have to do something else.”

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