Losing (it) Isaiah

So this is interesting: turns out Isaiah Washington did say "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" (a reference to the classic television news satire Network) at the news of his contract not being renewed for the next season of Grey's Anatomy -- and he wasn't joking.

Michael Ausiello reports that Isaiah is fuming (through his publicist, Howard Bragman), as he feels that he was asked to jump through hoops to atone for his abusive language and behavior and was then still dropped:

"If they wanted to fire him," Bragman asks, "why didn't they fire him when [the incident] happened? Why did they say, 'Here's what you need to do if you want to come back… ' and then, when he did everything that was asked of him, he still gets fired. Why do you treat somebody like that?"

"If you made a mistake, you acknowledged the mistake, you went into counseling, you met with the groups, you did the PSA, you did everything that was asked of you, and then they still kick you in the gut? How would you feel?"

Bragman notes that while there was no formal agreement that if Isaiah atoned publicly for his actions he would keep his job, it was an informal contract of sorts and they are considering legal action against ABC for not following through.

So what do you think? Does Washington have a right to be mad? Certainly seems, if what Bragman is saying is true, that he has a legitimate beef with ABC and show creator Shonda Rhimes -- probably the same beef that we had with them for not doing something about this whole mess when it first started. While there will likely be no actual legal repercussions in this situation, it does leave them holding the bag.