Callie and Erica are finished. And so is Brooke Smith's job.
The move was a creative decision and unrelated to the sexual orientation of Smith's character, said series creator and executive producer Shonda Rhimes.
"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," Rhimes said in a statement Monday.
Sara Ramirez, who plays Callie, is an "incredible" actress and the goal is "to play up her magic," Rhimes said. "Unfortunately, we did not find that the magic and chemistry with Brooke's character would sustain in the long run."
The breakup's effect on Callie will be reflected in upcoming episodes, Rhimes said.
"I believe it belittles the relationship to simply replace Erica with `another lesbian,'" Rhimes said, noting that Dr. Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh) mourned the departure of Dr. Preston BurkeIsaiah Washington) for a full season.
According to a tally released in September by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, ABC's fall schedule had seven characters that are either gay men or bisexual women, including the Callie and Erica characters, the most of any broadcast network.
In previous episodes, Callie has had heterosexual relationships.
Smith's last appearance as Dr. Erica Hahn will be aired this Thursday. So basically, the formerly hetero Callie gets to keep on going, with no new female love interests. Yay. It seems like one of those things where the lesbian character is ok, but the lesbian relationship is not so ok. Sort of like House. Except that House has Olivia Wilde and I'm too shallow to say anything bad about what they've been doing with her character.
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