Inside Isaiah Washington’s Love Story With Late Wife Jenisa Washington

While Washington has gone on to appear in other TV shows and films—even making a 2014 cameo on Grey’s—he noted he’s still asked about his past.

“It was painful. It was unfortunate. And I did apologize,” he told NPR in 2013. “And the story was never right. Six years later, I’m still asked that question. Whereas six years later I’ve been virtually unheard, unseen, and maybe to some, not that homophobic train wreck that they were trying to make me out to be.”

Ultimately, he added to NPR, “I’m fine with me. My wife, my three kids, when I walk in the door, my child hugs me, and we have a great life.”

Truthfully, we placed a higher priority on healing that relationship than any fictional patients.

“I said no more than I said yes,” he told Fox News in 2022 of turning down a series of jobs over the years. “Because I always wanted to be alive to know 20 years later what my kids would think of me in that particular role. So for me, yes, being married and having children, did change a lot of my trajectory.”

Admittedly, he continued, knowing how fully he’d commit to his role as husband was the reason he had concerns about getting married again, “but I’m glad I did because my wife and children really make you the best human being you could be.”

To learn more about the personal lives of more Grey’s Anatomy cast members, read on.