Reader Asks About Isaiah, We Repond

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Former Grey’s Anatomy actor Isaiah Washington posted a piece on Hufffington Post yesterday. The article – DNA Has Memory: We Are Who We Were – led one reader to ask how we feel about the infamous “faggot flinger” getting space at HuffPo.

Writes the concerned culture consumer: “Is it newsworthy that the Huffington Post has chosen to give Isaiah Washington a platform to spout off? It certainly decreases my respect for the site.” There are two aspects of this query which deserve consideration…

One, is it newsworthy: yes, but only insofar that Washington’s inflammatory past propelled him into a nebulous region of celebrity: not a train wreck, not a mainstream icon, but an actor with a infamous past. That past still haunts him today, so, yes, it makes his HuffPo appearance “newsworthy,” although only in terms of celebrity news and definitely not as “newsworthy” as, say, Heath Ledger’s death, an event that became the news story of the world for far too long.

Now, the second part: whether Washington’s post discredits HuffPo. We say no – the press exists to give people platforms, even those with scandalized pasts. And, quite frankly, we enjoyed Washington’s piece. It’s a personal journey with universal appeal, although swerves into narcissistic territories toward the end. Not that we’d expect anything less from Mr. Washington.

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