T.R. Knight is speaking out about his decision to leave his multimillion gig on the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.

The former screen star says that he made his decision to walk away from the hit ABC show after executive producer and Grey’s creator Shonda Rhimes drastically cut his screen time and morphed his on-screen alter-ego, Dr. George O’Malley, into someone he “didn’t understand and couldn’t respect.”

T.R. says a “breakdown in communication” with Rhimes prompted him to ask to be let out of his $14 million contract three years early.

“There just comes a time when it’s so clear that moving on is the best decision,” openly gay Knight says in this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands Friday.

“My five-year experience proved to me that I could not trust any answer that was given [about his character, George]…”