The Drama Behind Grey's Anatomy's Biggest Character Departures

It seems Katherine Heigl wasn't the only star on the show who wasn't happy with their screen time. In 2009, T.R. Knight left the show. The biggest reason for his departure, he revealed, was a "breakdown in communication" with Shonda Rhimes. At the time, Rhimes insisted she had trimmed George's time so that his disappearance in that year's finale — where he gets hit by a bus — isn't as noticeable. "It didn't seem like an ebb to me," Knight added. "No other series regular's character had ever disappeared like mine did this past season."

In addition to the above-mentioned complaint, Knight had a few other problems with the show. He wasn't happy with the fact that Rhimes took three months to publicly condemn Isaiah Washington for using the word "f*ggot." He also said that Rhimes had urged him to stay in the closet instead of coming out in the wake of the incident. "I think she was concerned about having my statement come out so close to the event." Later reports claimed Knight was asked to return to the show to film flashbacks, and he refused.