T.R. Knight talks
to Ellen

T.R. Knight's appearance on Wednesday's broadcast of The Ellen DeGeneres Show began with the usual talk-show banter: discussions of nude scenes, what T.R. stands for, the goofy face the actor makes when he dances. But in the second half of the interview, when Knight (newly dubbed McYummy by DeGeneres) started talking about the ongoing tiff on the Grey's Anatomy set, things turned substantial.

In October, Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey got into an altercation that ended with Washington calling Knight a "faggot." The event forced Knight to come out publicly.

"It's not my thing to call up People magazine and be like, 'Hey, you want to know something about me?'" he said.

Knight told DeGeneres that he had never been called a "faggot" to his face before, and that suddenly triggered something that was "bigger than myself." He then thanked her for her bravery in coming out as a lesbian a decade ago.

"What you're doing is going to mean something to other people that are seeing this right now," DeGeneres said, "because you're an amazing guy."

It was all very touching, actually. Knight had nothing to add to the recent spewing by Washington after the Golden Globes on Monday night, when he denied ever using the slur.

''No, I did not call T.R. a faggot,'' Washington said in an interview after Grey's Anatomy took the award for Best TV Drama. ''Never happened; never happened.''

While Washington keeps digging a deeper hole, Knight adds DeGeneres to his list of friends. Knight's costar Katherine Heigl told Access Hollywood at a postshow party that she found Washington's comments that night hurtful.

''I don't think [Washington] means it the way he comes off,'' she said to the Associated Press. ''But T.R. is my best friend...I will use every ounce of energy I have to take you down if you hurt his feelings.''