"Grey's" consultant Nikki Weiss discusses Brooke Smith firing

Thanks for the update, Sarah!  This has actually got a lot of my straight friends talking as well since we all watch Grey's so it's nice to have some information to share.

I'm glad people are fighting for us, but I'm still extremely pissed off! Even my oldest sister didn't understand why tey fired her, and was upset for me, which says alot.

 

http://kiiimmmaaayyy.blogspot.com/ CHECK IT!

" I manage Candace Cayne" And that has exactly what to do with anything concerning this situation? I'm all for Transgender visibility but to pull that out of your ass in an attempt at a defense of this Grays travesty is pathetic. I've watched my last ep unless something astonishing happens. On the upside though Callie went an entire episode without screwing a guy. Maybe she really is a lesbian......

Thank you for sharing this letter here and for the updates to this story.

This whole thing is just so bewildering and sad.

Thank you so much for this update.

I taped Brook's last show and because I had another commitment I have yet to watch it... I want to be in the right space when I do so.

I think one major thing that hit home was because I identified with Erica's character so much.

Tonight I have been watching earlier episodes of season 5... and I am glad I did. I reminded myself of why I fell in love with Grey's anatomy in the first place. It truly is a ground breaking show with the incredible amount of diversity and things that have been addressed.

Not to mention Meredith and Christina's friendship. It reminds me of my relationship with my own best friend. Ohhh and as a Seattle native who now lives in Minneapolis, I find the bad Seattle geography always humerous.

So if someone from the show is reading this, I want to say thank you. For a great show and taking the steps you have made. The end sucks beyond belief but lets hope it has opened doors for more story lines on network TV.

This is even greater a reason to go to ABC.com and click on the CONTACT US link at the bottom of the page to give them your opinion. I have a friend that works at another network and she says even a few hundred emails is considered noteworthy since people don't usually bother to take the time to write in.  If people did write in to protest the storyline, it's up to us to protest the exclusion of gays on prime time TV.

--Mari

Mari SanGiovanni

Author of: Greetings From Jamaica, Wish You Were Queer...

www.GreetingsFromJamaica.com

I think the transgender comment was to show a reflection on how a transsexual is approved off on one show, but two "lesbians" together are not.

Perhaps because a guy is in one of the relationships? Because it looks more taboo than the Callica storyline? I can't say.

Well, it's good to know that she was flooded with e-mails, because I think that shows the extent of the outrage (as I suspect she was likely not one of the main targets for people's e-mails/letters)

I've seen the responses she's given to a couple of people, and this one sounds much more sympathetic.  I appreciate that, and that she made the effort to write this.

However, even if ABC tries to placate the angry viewers in the future, it doesn't take away the fact that they were very disrespectful to the LGBT community, the actress, and the viewers' intelligence with the manner in which:

- this storyline had the rug pulled out from under it;

- the actress was dismissed;

- and *especially* with the way they tried to spin and control the message.

And I fear we will never find out why. I don't get what the difference is between a gay couple, a transgendered character and a lesbian couple. Why are there so many gay men on TV but nearly no lesbians?

I am very happy to see that networks include LGBT characters, but I hate that lesbians are once again invisible. How come some few people think that our stories are worth telling? I don't understand it, it makes no sense whatsoever.

Just in case someone hasn't signed our petition yet: Hope 4 Hahn

Thanks for posting her statement, I guess she can't really do anything either. But it is nice to see that they, in fact, made Shonda change the storyline. Doesn't explain her stupid statement though.

http://babydyke.blogspot.com/ - my take on all things lesbian

I must have missed something here. I appreciate that Weiss took time out of her life to write her speech. I'm also thankful that she and Trish tried bringing a sense of reality to television. But this little “letter” she sent to Sarah is uncalled for and quite frankly pisses me off. I see a whole lot of justification from the higher powers and not a whole lot of reasonable logic behind their decision to fire Brooke.

In all fairness to Nikki and Trish, I know they can only tell us what they knew at the time of the Callica story development. But why not just say, “Hey we are as clueless as you guys are.”  And despite what the LGBT audience might think, that’s exactly the position they are in. No need to try and portray yourself in a better light by dragging another show into the conversation.

*Sigh* As much as I want to blame this situation on homophobia I think that is a fraction of the real story. Honestly, I’d feel a lot better if the execs would just come out and say we fired Brooke because she didn’t turn on the straight viewers. Not all this crap that people are trying to shove down our throats to make us feel better.

So Sarah thank you for posting this article but it sure didn’t leave me reassured and it certainly didn’t change my mind about Grey’s Anatomy, Shonda, or ABC.

So ... who's buying Disney products for their loved ones this year?

Not I!

This is a nonsense, make-nice statement designed to appease the gays...

I do not think that Weiss intended the statement to be a justification for Smith's firing or to appease us. As Sarah indicates, Weiss has been 'deluged with emails'. To me it seems to be the above response is intended to de-clutter the inbox and provide a statement to a group of people who obviously would like to ascertain Weiss' opinion (hence the deluge in the first place). I appreciate any insight anyone has to offer at this stage, purely because the public has been offered no explanation for the demise of the relationship, or for Smith's removal from the show. If there was a perfectly logical, acceptable reason, we surely would have heard by now.

The powers that be are obviously aware of the negative reaction Smith's removal from Greys would incite. I cannot see any other reason why they would send Dempsey to the Ellen show with a pre-prepared statement to issue should Ellen ask about Smith's firing. Living in Australia I am glad to have been given the opportunity to read AE reviews and articles prior to the season starting as now I have the same expectations for this lesbian relationship as so many others shown on commercial television - none.

all you have to do with big companies is show them how their potential profit outweighs the potential of scorn....they are not catering to a huge demographic thats what i told them when i emailed them

 

I read this and was reminded of something Rachel Maddow said about Sarah Palin back in October, just after the release of the report on her firing of the Police Commissioner. Here's what Maddow said: 

The report says Palin violated the Ethics Act. Palin says, "I'm glad the report cleared me." Also, day is night, up is down. This isn't one of those difference-of-opinion things, a question of interpretation. The report says she broke ethics laws, and she says the report doesn't say that. She is lying.

This is a person running for office who has been confronted with an uncomfortable and inconvenient fact and her response to that is to look into the camera and lie to you enthusiastically and repeatedly. I know I'm not supposed to use that particular "L" word, the "liar" word in politics. It's considered impolite. But sometimes, the most important thing you need to know about a politician is the frequency and enthusiasm and skill with which they lie to you.

Saying a politician is a prevaricating, mendacious truth-stretcher or whatever other thesaurus words we can come up with for lying is just far less efficient than calling a lie a lie, and a liar a liar.  

As it relates to the decision to oust Brooke Smith, people are lying. Maybe no one in the room with Weiss made the decision to axe Smith, but they were responsible for the statement that got put out...and that statement was a lie. These people are lying.

And, for LGBT advocates to trade their integrity for access to ABC's head honchos by not calling these people liars...well, this should lessen our opinions of them. 

-----
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." - MLK

I don't have a problem with this statement. Sure she's involved with ABC but in this situation she's just a person who happened to be involved with this project months ago but does not make any real decisions (ie she didn't fire Brooke). She clearly makes her views known but also why would she want to piss all over her current job. Hopefully they'll keep Carmelita and will continue to show more of that relationship.

I wonder if the last convo with Erica and Sara was rewritten to suit the situation more so? Was it towards the ABC suits etc? With the whole morality speech and kind of a lesbian...The whole scene didn't make any sense what so ever and the dialogue was so off.

Hopefully more news will come out in the upcoming weeks.

I'm glad you're not letting this incident fade away. Please continue to seek answers for us, AE! ABC/Grey's should be made to address this situation properly.

 I just thought I'd mention, we're collecting donations for a couple of our campaigns born out of this incident. Go here to find out more and find the link to the paypal donation account: http://community.livejournal.com/erica_callie/208868.html?view=2042596#t2042596

Basically, the first campaign is a show of support for Sara Ramirez (we are already doing something for Brooke Smith, and thought it would be nice to do something for Sara too.) We're going to inundate her with gifts on the set, including roses cheekily labelled 'to Dr. Callie Torres love from Dr. Erica Hahn' (we thought that was cute), and since this is coming from Callica fans too, we're sort of also making a statement with it.

The second campaign we are raising money for is sending leaves to ABC/Grey's production offices. People have already sent out individual boxes, but we are looking to send a mass from all of us (orginally it was to be a truck full, but that proved too complicated, so gigantic boxes it is). We'll also be sending letters with both campaigns.

 Please donate, even if it's as small an amount as one dollar, it all helps. Please post this link and info to your own LJ's/message boards/email your friends, anywhere you think people will be interested in taking part. If you have more time and want to get more involved with with effort and some of our others, you can find info on the erica_callie LJ community.

Since I may as well, here is the link to the petition again. Spread it everywhere and anywhere. If for some reason you haven't signed, please do so.

http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/hope4hahn

Thanks folks!

Wasn't Dirty Sexy Money the show Brooke didn't do to be in GA ? Ironic...

Probably cause gay men are not a threat in stealing the "collective man's" woman. Because most people still think, all a lesbian needs is a good man, but nobody says that a gay man just needs a good woman, we are the weaker inferior sex, so to purposefully seek out that relationship is incomprehensible.  Maybe a man being with another man, is a little more believable in the eyes of the "man", as they are both superior beings, are they not? I mean I'm sure they still view gay men as unnatural to some degree, but when it comes down too it, other than the threat of all gay men wanting to have sex with any and every man, doesn't that just reinforce their prowess and their undeniable irresistibility. I mean seriously.

Was Brooke Smith disliked by the Grey's cast and crew?  We already know how unpopular her character was.  Forget the fact that she played the character the way it was written.  No one is mentioning how this whole thing has affected the actress herself.

 Considering she had just moved her entire family to LA because of her work on Grey's I think the whole thing is beyond unfair in so many ways. 

I so very agree with LA Times' Mary McNamara's remarks/theory about what may have happened that led to Brooke Smith's firing. It's not so much about the lesbian storyline, more like the 2 characters (actresses) are not "steamy" looking enough. In other words, looks/age played a big part in ABC's decision. Why? If ABC was irky about homosexual storylines, we wouldn't have the richly developed gay characters in "Brothers & Sisters," the transgender character in "Dirty Sexy Money." You see, I think/believe, if Erica and/or Callie were of the "desired" look, ABC wouldn't have any problem 'coz ratings would be up, no complaints from idiotic viewers, and most importantly, men don't have anything to complain about 'coz we all know that (straight) men love to watch girl-on-girl action!

So, unfortunately, Brooke Smith ain't built like the "ideal" look, like, say, No. 13 (Olivia Wilde) in "House." Instead, Sara & Brooke are "real" women. Now, that's absolutely normal 'coz guess what, 99% of women in the world are "real" women, for crying out loud. Now, unfortunately, in America, putting "real" women on TV and showing them having a loving/sexual relationship (be it straight or gay) are still a taboo, God only knows. Unlike in the UK, where we see lead characters played by mature, "real" looking actors on TV having richly-developed relationships without "OMG, we can't put this on TV!" shrieks from the networks, it's certainly not the case with the US networks.

Let's hope we'll be able to see a change in attitude among the networks in America soon!

 

-- Coggy

"The Mind is the Universe"

I'm sorry, but that statement by Nikki was 8 paragraphs of BS. That's the longest nonanswer I've ever read as far as I'm concerned, but at least she got a plug in for her client right?

Yeah, I agree with most of you. I understand being diplomatic to a point, but why won't people who are in a better position that the average viewer speak out about this do so? It's clear that people think this is very wrong.

 I guess it's unsurprising she won't speak out against ABC if she has a client on another one of their shows. Maybe she'll get unfairly canned too and then Ms. Weiss will have something to say.

AE, have you tried contacting ABC/Grey's producers/Shonda Rhimes about all this?

 GET YOUR IRONY HERE

Isaiah Washington, of all people, has spoken out about this:

 http://www.usmagazine.com/news/isaiah-washington-calls-greys-disgusting-for-firing-brooke-smith

Should we just be happy that somebody has spoken out?

Thanks for the update! I'm outraged about Brooke's firing and appreciate that people are speaking out!

Here's how I see it:

Erica Hahn was not appealing, not even from the first time she showed up on screen. The fact that there was going to be a lesbian character on Grey's was exciting, Callie? even more exciting.. Callie and Erica? not that exciting.

Yes, they shouldn't have axed Brooke, it was wrong and completely obvious why. No "public statements" are needed. BUT, There was nothing there between those two.

I just plain didn't like Hahn, I couldn't sympathize with her, I didn't believe her with Callie. I also didn't like that I was somehow suppose to cheer Erica on when to everyone else she was just so unbearable. The character, people, not Brooke.

I didn't mind the last scene and wasn't outraged. I like how Callie stood up for herself after Erica said she couldn't be "kind of a lesbian". Is that an indication that she is one? I thought so.

Change the storyline, give Callie someone she can have actual chemistry with, don't fire someone and call it something else when it screams homophobia.

following this is like reading a mystery in which the obvious killer makes me sick to my stomach.

having a transgendered actress on TV is much of a consolation prize for having no lesbian characters portrayed on TV.  I've never watched Dirty Sexy Money, but is this actress portraying a straight woman?  If so, then, well, two minus two still equals zero.

I never watched Greys, but coming on the heels of Prop 8 passing in California, it's like a kick in the gut to have the lesbian role unceremoniously deleted and the bisexual character turn straight again.  Please, it's just sickening.

Let's start with, I'm Canadian... so I'm still shaking my head wondering how Prop 8 passed, and how other states could have chosen to completely negate the basic human rights of their queer neighbours, but I had some hope for common sense and reason while positive, inclusive, "real" relationships were being shown on shows such as Grey's Anatomy... shows that are popular, address adult audiences and seem to be about the story line and the characters, not just about the network policies.

I started watching Grey's Anatomy, I suspect like many others, once I heard about the Callie/Erica story line. I enjoyed the realism of the relationship so much so that for the last four weekends, I have marathoned the Season 1, 2, 3 & 4 DVDs... to understand the history of the relationship and the characters.

The only part of the entire relationship that I have had difficulty with is the great 'we're virgins' debacle... (Is that really something that women would waste their breath discussing? To me that sounds very much like a conversation designed to attract men...)...

I'm heart broken that Erica is gone... I suppose that she was the only character on the show that I could truely relate too... Driven - Type A - control freak - suddenly- maddeningly- waking up with the realisation of "I'm so gay!"... and I am not the perfect Izzie or Meredith figure...

Erica - the real person on the show - is gone... now what? Do I keep watching... hoping that sanity returns after sweeps week... or do I have to wait for sanity to come to the voting American public at large... or will sanity return after the election is a little further into the distant pass...

Someone please tell me that there is hope for the future of Lesbians on Grey's Anatomy and on prime time television... 

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-greys8-2008nov08,0,2268544.st...