Eff up. Enter rehab. Make everything okay.

I swear that rehab / treatment is the celebrity way of paying restitution for acting like a jackass. Think about it: Mel Gibson, Lindsay Lohan and now Isaiah Washington.

The Grey’s Anatomy star has entered a treatment program in an attempt to make amends for the gay slur that rocked the Golden Globes, sources confirm to E! Online.

It’s so common now that it’s transparent and downright meaningless. Some bullsh*t PR stunt forced on Washington by ABC network brass, no doubt.

What further baffles me, though, is the dustup around his denial of using the word as an insult, which incorporated the word. Saying “I did not call T.R. a faggot’” should hardly be grounds for firing or for the week-and-a-half long whiny media fest that followed. Actually calling someone a faggot is — or should be.

And perhaps that’s why ABC and the Grey’s Anatomy folks decided to make strong statements against Washington and send him to “treatment” to generate some faux-goodwill: because their sorry a**es chose ratings over right when Washington first hurled (or didn’t, depending on who you believe) the slur at Knight.