UPDATE: Shonda Rhimes has issued the following statement:
Brooke Smith was obviously not fired for playing a lesbian. Clearly it's not an issue as we have a lesbian character on the show – Calliope Torres. Sara Ramirez is an incredible comedic and dramatic actress and we wanted to be able to play up her magic. Unfortunately, we did not find that the magic and chemistry with Brooke's character would sustain in the long run. The impact of the Callie/Erica relationship will be felt and played out in a story for Callie. I believe it belittles the relationship to simply replace Erica with 'another lesbian.' If you'll remember, Cristina mourned the loss of Burke for a full season.
This is such bullshit it is not even excusable by trying to be politically correct. It seems like cheap lip service, hypocrisy and cowardice combined into one small paragraph. I wonder who "we" are. Chemistry does not seem to be such a big concern when they are shoving Mwehredith and McEgotisticalWhinyBoringShit down my throat. Chemistry is clearly subjective, but even if you concede that these women do not have it, that is still no reason to -out of the blue- get rid of Erica Hahn. If they´d fired every actor when their character breaks up, then by now there should be no one left. Using the fact that Callie/Ramirez is still on the show as proof that they did not fire Smith for playing a lesbian (as if she can even be ´blamed´ for that) is horse manure as well. I would have liked to see her explain firing them both at once. ´We kept one´ does not equal ´we are cool with having a lesbian lead characters on the show´.
As for the belittling of that relationship? Where is that concern coming from? Getting rid of Erica and claiming they do not have enough chemistry is not belittling it? How strong was that relationship if it can apparently be broken up so soon and easily. Christina lived with Burke for years, she went through several seriously life altering events with him and was ultimately left at the altar. How can they compare the two? Why should Callie mourn the loss of her relationship as long as Christina when none of the other characters mourn their lost loves for ´a full season´. How long did Izzy mourn her Denny? How long did Callie herself mourn George? Why compare Callie to Christina and not to any of the others that get over it sooner rather than later.
Don´t get me wrong, I am not trying to play down the depth or importance of their relationship, despite Callie´s annoying waffling, I saw more in them than in most of the other relationships I have seen on this show. I would not want to see Callie jump in the sack with another woman as easily and as soon as she did with Sloan or the others seem to do with whatever man crosses their path that day. I just do not believe for a second any of this is done out of a genuine desire to honor their relationship. It comes across as a series of inconsistent excuses to get rid of Hahn and turn Callie into a token single sexless is she or isn´t she lesbian character whilst still trying to smell like roses instead of spineless wuss.
