Fans, gays, costars, and everyone in showbiz is hatin’ on Grey’s Anatomy star Isaiah Washington since he unintentionally outed co-star T.R. Knight and used the word “faggot” at the Golden Globe awards.

Even so, his character, Dr. Preston Burke, is too pivotal to the series for ABC to kick him off mid-season — especially now that he’s officially apologized to castmates and fans (not to mention his verbal exchanges have probably pumped up the show’s already sky-high ratings!). And since he at least appears to be working on his verbal diarrhea, as well as meeting with gay and lesbian advocacy groups, ABC (and parent company Disney) will probably give him a second chance.

Following the Golden Globes, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation issued a statement vehemently condemning the actor’s slurs. That (and perhaps Disney’s anti-discrimination policy) prompted the public apology from Washington “to T.R., my colleagues, the fans of the show and especially the lesbian and gay community for using a word that is unacceptable in any context or circumstance.”

(GLADD president Neil Giuliano says the organization is encouraged by Washington’s apology, and plans to meet with the actor this week).

But Knight and other castmates are still a bit charred over the f-burn.

First among them: Anatomy’s resident hunk Patrick Dempsey (“Dr. McDreamy”), who was involved in his own confrontation with Washington back in October.

And although he kept a quiet, public profile at the Golden Globes after Washington used the “f” word again, Dempsey reportedly told Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip’s Sarah Paulson, “If someone said that about me and outed me that way, it would be really hard. I appreciate that (Grey’s co-star) Katherine Heigl stood up for T.R. because it’s our job to protect each other.”

The first of many ironies about the Washington-Knight situation is that Anatomy’s network ABC landed eight nominations from the GLADD, the group announced Sunday.

What’s most interesting, perhaps, is that Washington’s real-life drama manages to top a highly dramatic GA storyline. For the past couple of weeks, Washington’s character and on-air girlfriend Christine Yang (played by Sandra Oh), have been torturing each other with the silent treatment, which began when Yang outed her boyfriend’s inability to perform surgeries with injured, shaky hands.

It wouldn’t be so torturous if he kept his mouth shut more often in public, too.