We have a long standing policy to create and maintain respectful workplaces for all our employees. We dealt with the original situation in October, and thought the issue resolved. Therefore, we are greatly dismayed that Mr. Washington chose to use such inappropriate language at the Golden Globes, that he himself deemed 'unfortunate' in his previous public apology. We take this situation very seriously, and his actions are unacceptable and are being addressed.

That's ABC's official statement regarding Isaiah Washington's Golden Globes interview where he renegged on an earlier admission of calling co-star T.R. Knight a faggot.

That's also ABC's way of saying: "No, we're not firing him. Don't you know what this is going to do for ratings?!"

Still obsessing over that whole real-life melodrama on the set of Grey's Anatomy? Well, yesterday we told you Katherine Heigl is angry with Isaiah Washington for rehashing the issue at the Golden Globes and now we're hearing TR Knight went on Ellen to talk about, well, what it's like being gay. In addition to stammering endearingly (just like his character on TV!) Knight comes across as emotional and sincere, and gives a giant kudos to Ellen DeGeneres for paving the way for stars like himself, Doogie Howser M.D. and Lance Bass to "come out" on the covers of People Magazine.

• Barack Obama delights every Democrat (other than Hillary Clinton) by officially announcing his presidential bid.

• Izzy's pissed at Dr. Burke for continuing to make fun of Georgie; meanwhile, self-obsessed Meredith is too busy disappearing before our very eyes to even notice.

• Future Scientologist David Beckham to cash in on his good looks with an acting career. "Attaboy!" says Beckham's handsome (and Oscar-less) bestie, Tom Cruise.

• Britney Spears may be withholding pics of her son so she can sell them for enough money to cover K-Fed's alimony checks.

• Trump gets a star on the indiscriminate Hollywood Walk of Fame; Rosie O'Donnell already 'stepping in dog poo' in preparation.

• Check out the Worst-Ever Golden Globes fashion trainwrecks. Leading the way? Paula Abdul, of course!

Notice how Isaiah Washington's recent headlines have nothin to do with calling T.R. Knight a fag or choking Patrick Dempsey? In the fine art of celebrity crisis management, Washington has aptly bounced back, scoring meetings with President Bush and the First Lady to discuss his iniative to battle malaria. A notable cause, for sure, though Isaiah's ramped up interest in fighting the disease that kills hundreds of thousands of Africans (oh, and other folks too) each year was nicely timed to coincide with Laura Bush's summit. And, as People notes, Washington's political hobnobbing didn't end there: he hit Dick Cheney's holiday party en route back to the Grey's Anatomy set.

Then again, it's always made sense to us to use the holidays as a chance for homophobes to get together.

• Grey's Anatomy's Isaiah Washington has a pattern of being an asshole. [TMZ]

• O.J. Simpson's camp denies he's paying paid anything, let alone $3.5 million, to write a book. Still mum on that whole double murder thing. [R&M]

• Conan O'Brien's L.A. house hunting don't help rumors that NBC is forcing him to head west when he takes over Jay Leno's late night timeslot. [Planet Gossip]

• Anna Nicole Smith's half-sister Donna Hogan hopes to cash in on Anna's fame with new book. Also, blames Anna for son Daniel's death. [R&M]

• Warner Brothers made empty promises to fit the amputee extras in the studio's Blood Diamonds with prosthetic limbs, following trend of making empty promises about the bottom line to investors. [P6]

• The baby daddy of Madonna's adoption hopeful says he wasn't aware the pop singer would be taking away his son David forever. [NYDN]