“Grey’s Anatomy” surgeon Dr. Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington) continued what is apparently some sort of unorthodox physical therapy treatment for the nerve damage in his injured hand last week, following up his rehabilitative choke-hold exercises with a new form of resistance training: dragging Dr. George O’Malley (T.R. Knight) out of the closet.

Unfortunately, this is not a convoluted plot line on the popular medical melodrama; this is real life. Further details have emerged regarding Washington’s on-set temper tantrum a few weeks back, and the net result is that actor T.R. Knight has essentially been forced out of the closet.

Here’s how the story evolved:

1. On October 11, the National Enquirer reports that Isaiah Washington put a choke-hold on Patrick Dempsey during an on-set spat, after Dempsey objected to Washington’s saying “something mean” to T.R. Knight.

2. On October 18, the Enquirer updates its story about the spat to include a mention of Washington yelling to Dempsey, “I’m not your little faggot like [name deleted].”

3. On October 19, T.R. Knight issues a statement indicating that he is gay, and that he hopes that that fact “isn’t the most interesting part of” him.

Nice work, guys. Not that we consider the National Enquirer any sort of bastion of journalistic integrity or moral rectitude…but did anyone at the publication really think that even the drooling masses wouldn’t be able to do the math on this one?

Let’s see: Isaiah said something mean to T.R. Knight. Isaiah also called some unidentified actor a faggot. Hmmm, to whom could he have been referring? Not the same actor to whom he had already been reported to have said “something mean,” perhaps? No, that couldn’t possibly be it. It’s a mystery for the ages.

So, here’s the question: who is more to blame here: Isaiah Washington, for being a homophobic egomaniac with anger management issues; the National Enquirer, for taking such laughably lax steps to “protect” Knight’s personal life…or some combination of the two?

And if you were running the show over at “Grey’s Anatomy,”what would you do to reprimand Washington for such clearly unprofessional and unwarranted behavior?