Justin Chambers of Grey’s Anatomy said Monday that the players in the show’s off-screen controversy over Isaiah Washington’s use of a gay slur are continuing to work out their problems – and that it’s a shame the spat has distracted from the program’s accomplishments.

Asked by Barbara Walters on The View how things were going over at the ABC show, Chambers replied, “That’s the question right now. It’s an unfortunate situation. They’re trying to work it out.”

Chambers, 36, who plays Dr. Alex Karev, said the pall that’s been cast over the show is particularly unfortunate considering the creative accolades it’s earned. “We won the Golden Globe, and it’s kind of overshadowed that fact – and the fact that it’s such a large cast, that we work a lot of hours and we get along really well,” he said.

Kate Walsh, who also stars on Grey’s, tells Extra she is hopeful the show’s cast and crew can eventually get past the situation. “I feel really sad…I’m just saying my prayers,” she said at the Sundance Film Festival. “I don�t know what is going to happen…I just trust that our show will deal with it in the way that they see fit.”

The off-screen saga began in October, when costars Washington and Patrick Dempsey got into a fight on the set, and Washington allegedly used a gay slur to refer to another costar, T.R. Knight. Washington then fanned the flames at the Golden Globes by repeating the word, though he later apologized.

On a lighter topic, Chambers, who has five children with wife Keisha, told The View’s co-hosts that he’d given some advice to Dempsey, whose wife Jillian is expecting twins sons this winter.

His words of wisdom? “Strap yourself in, get ready.”

Source: People Magazine