“Grey’s Anatomy” star Isaiah Washington has confirmed that his wife of 29 years, Jenisa Washington, died in June 2025 after a massive hemorrhagic stroke — a loss the actor kept out of public view for 16 months before addressing it in an Instagram post on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026.
“Yes…the rumors are true. My dear wife of 29 years collapsed suddenly on May 31, 2025 and passed away on June 9, 2025. It came as a huge shock to me and our entire family,” Washington wrote. “She succumbed to a massive hemorrhagic stroke and never recovered.”
Washington, 63, posted the announcement beneath a photograph of his late wife, who was 56. The couple had three children, Isaiah Jr., Tyme and Iman.
A Private Marriage of 29 Years
The two met at a dinner party in Los Angeles in the 1990s, when Jenisa was working as a fashion designer. They married on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 1996. Over the decades that followed, she largely stayed away from the cameras that followed her husband, and the pair were photographed together only occasionally, including in 2007 and again in Los Angeles in 2014.
Although the couple made few public appearances, her long absence drew attention from fans and parts of the press, and Washington said the speculation about his family was what finally pushed him to speak. “I don’t know if this is an appropriate post, because Jenisa Washington was extremely private, but I guess I just have to be reprimanded from her on the other side,” he wrote.
A Warning About Headaches
In the same post, the actor urged his followers to take their own symptoms seriously. “Listen, y’all…some headaches are not just headaches or migraines, they can be much worse and a warning sign. Get a brain scan if you can and take those headaches seriously,” he wrote.
A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain breaks and bleeds, preventing the brain from getting the blood and oxygen it needs, according to the Cleveland Clinic. The bleeding can damage or kill brain cells within minutes, and the strokes require immediate treatment.
The Role That Made Him Famous
Washington played cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Preston Burke on “Grey’s Anatomy,” the medical drama that premiered in 2005 and stars Ellen Pompeo. His character’s on-screen romance with Cristina Yang, played by Sandra Oh, became one of the show’s signature pairings. He was fired in 2007 after a heated on-set argument with co-star Patrick Dempsey in which he used a homophobic slur aimed at T.R. Knight, who played George O’Malley. Washington returned to the series in 2014, appearing in the tenth season to close out Yang’s storyline.
In 2013, Washington said he was “shunned” after losing the role, but added of the forced break in his career: “I became a better husband, a better father and a better artist.” He went on to star in the science-fiction series “The 100” from 2014 to 2020 and appeared in “P-Valley,” “Bionic Woman,” “The Cleaner,” “Law & Order: Los Angeles” and “Survivor’s Remorse.” His film credits include “Blackbird,” “Dead Trigger,” “Cut Throat City” and the Brazil-U.S. co-production “Área Q.”
Condolences From Fellow Actors
The post drew nearly 45,000 reactions, among them messages from across the industry. “So very sorry Isaiah,” wrote Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis. Actors Debi Mazar, Tichina Arnold, Michael Beach, Harold Perrineau and LaMonica Garrett, along with singer Nicci Gilbert, also offered condolences to Washington and his family.
Closing the post, Washington wrote that his wife had been gone for 16 months, and that she left behind three remarkable children to carry on her legacy.