*Isaiah Washington sat down for an interview with Don Lemon on “CNN Tonight” Wednesday after his unsolicited advice to Chris Rock about the comic’s recent police stops enraged Twitter.
As previously reported, Rock took selfies each of the three times he was stopped by police in the past two months, suggesting he was being racially profiled. He shared each one on Instagram – the latest one on Monday.
Washington responded on Twitter: “I sold my $90,000.00 Mercedes G500 and bought 3 Prius’s, because I got tired of being pulled over by Police. #Adapt @chrisrock.”
I sold my $90,000.00 Mercedes G500 and bought 3 Prius’s, because I got tired of being pulled over by Police. #Adapt @chrisrock
— Isaiah Washington (@IWashington) April 1, 2015
Anyway, you millennial’s critique and misconstrue my message to @chrisrock I’m getting back to my work to help free all y’all. #Truthdom — Isaiah Washington (@IWashington) April 1, 2015
Those comments set off a social media firestorm and prompted Lemon to offer the actor an opportunity to tell his side of the story.
“A lot of people took issue with the hashtag ‘adapt,’” Washington told the CNN anchor in a rambling interview.
“There is something that is happening in his neighborhood — they [police] are looking for something. Obviously they are not looking for Chis Rock,” Washington said.
“What I was doing was trying to excite a conversation. We are looking at this term ‘Driving While Black,’ but maybe we should be looking at the term ‘black’ itself and have a different conversation,” he added.
Washington then began to relay his own experiences of being pulled over by the police with his children in the car. “I think the issue is many things… from my experiences, police are about the business of policing,” he said.
As Lemon tried to turn the conversation back to Rock by asking if the comedian should be “driving a different car,” even though it is his right to drive whatever he wants, the former “Grey’s Anatomy” actor offered another suggestion. “He needs to look at the area he is in and visit with the local police officers in that community… and question them as to why they are pulling him over specifically,” Washington said.
“But that is putting a burden on him,” Lemon countered.
“We’ve been burdened for 400 years… We are in a situation where we have to survive in extreme circumstances with people who are angry and those who are practicing white supremacy — they are on the hunt and they are angry,” Washington said to a visibly perplexed Lemon. “The onus is on us. If we don’t survive, we don’t live to fight another day — and that is what I was saying to adapt.”
Watch Washington’s full CNN interview here.
Below, a sampling of how Twitter came for @IWashington:
Isaiah Washington was the same guy who got fired from Greys anatomy for being homophobic right? Dr. Burke
— Diatonic Dissonance (@urbangaygriot) April 2, 2015
Isaiah Washington traded the Benz for a Prius because he ain’t really worked since he dropped that F-Bomb. Let’s keep it a buck. — C E E J (@ImJustCeej) April 1, 2015
Isaiah Washington trolled “Black Twitter” so he could see his name in the news again.
— Darkskinned Phoenix (@DearLeader10) April 2, 2015
And is @IWashington implying that Black folks who drive less expensive cars won’t be pulled over by cops? That logic is broken as hell. — Elon James White (@elonjames) April 1, 2015
