Katherine Heigl 'proud' she called out Grey's Anatomy costar Isaiah Washington in 2007 after he reignites feud: Source

"She is proud that she stood up for [T.R. Knight]. Katherine is and always will be an advocate and ally to the LGBTQ community," a source close to the actress told EW after Washington slammed her on Twitter this week.

Isaiah Washington and Katherine Heigl
Photo: J.Sciulli/WireImage

It's been over a decade since Katherine Heigl and her former Grey's Anatomy costar Isaiah Washington famously butted heads after the latter allegedly called fellow Grey's actor T.R. Knight a homophobic slur, and the drama continues.

Washington reignited the feud via Twitter on Monday by calling out Heigl for her comments in 2007 proclaiming Washington "needs to just not speak in public." Her statement at the time was in response to Washington using a homophobic slur in the Golden Globes press room while denying that he had ever used the word to describe Knight. Washington had previously issued an apology for an "unfortunate use of words during the recent incident on-set."

On Monday, Washington tweeted a photo of Heigl and wrote, "This woman once proclaimed that I should 'never' be allowed to speak publicly again. The world agreed with her proclamation back then and protested for my job and my head in 65 languages. I wish I was on Twitter in 2007 because I will NEVER stop exercising my free speech."

A source close to Heigl tells EW the actress stands proudly by what she said at the time.

"Katherine stood up for her close friend twice when Isaiah publicly outed him and called him a f----t," the source told EW on Tuesday. "That's hate talk, not free speech. She is proud that she stood up for him. Katherine is and always will be an advocate and ally to the LGBTQ community."

Washington didn't seem too pleased with a barrage of comments on his tweet in support of Heigl. When one fan responded to him by saying, "and she was right," Washington replied with a middle finger emoji.

Someone else asked who Heigl was since they didn't recognize her photo. He replied, "Nobody of real importance."

EW has reached out to Heigl and Knight for comment.

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