Another network TV queer character bites the dust: Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello reports that Brooke Smith, who's been playing newly-lesbian Dr. Erica Hahn, has been abruptly cut from the roster at Grey's Anatomy.

The TCA panel for Private Practice, the spin-off from Grey's Anatomy just finished, and while there were hardly any Isaiah Washington questions during the panel, they came fast-and furious during the press Q-and-A afterward. Here is what what Grey's creator Shonda Rhimes had to say about the controversy.

How difficult a decision was it to release Isaiah on a personal level?
Shonda Rhimes:It wasn't. It was a decision that took a long time coming. It felt like it was the right decision for all of us.

So this wasn't a decision that was forced upon you? This was something that you agreed with?
SR: The great thing about Mark Pedowitz [ABC Studios Head]and Stephen McPherson [ABC president] is they never imposed anything on me.

So you agreed with the decision he should not come back?
SR: Of course I did.

You were quoted as saying it was disturbing the thought that one black actor could be replaced with another. Do you have any second thoughts about saying that, particularly in light of the recent recast on Private Practice?
Rhimes: No, I think there's a point there. I think that Preston Burke, the character that audiences have come to know and love for three season[s], it's very different. And at a time which there was some talk of, 'Let's cast this actor or that actor... " sort of naming a bunch of black actors. As if the only thing that was important about the character of Preston Burke was his race. That was disturbing to me. It's a very different situation from the enhanced two-hour [episode of Private Practice], which was our version of a pilot. Pilots get recast all the time. Ours just happened to air. It wasn't a matter of needing to find another black actor. It was a matter of, Audra McDonald is the person we want.

Do you understand that there were people that interpreted this as you turning a homophobic incident into a racial incident?
Rhimes: Do I understand? I do now. Absolutely. But I do think that that moment of discussion about that was disturbing to me -- as disturbing as the entire incident that happened for T.R. and Isaiah.

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