Kerry Washington admitted that she would have walked away from the leading role in “Scandal” if the president actor in the TV series was black, and for good reason.
Kerry is the leading lady of one of TV’s most popular dramas right now, but even knowing of the shows great success she revealed that she would have walked away if the President actor resembled Obama too closely.
When it comes down to it, America has proved time and time again that many of the country’s population has made a hobby out of finding irrational reasons to attempt to force Obama out of office – like all the people who wanted him impeached because Beyonce was supposedly lip syncing at his inauguration. With so much controversy already circling around President Obama’s presidency, the last thing Kerry wanted to do was add to the drama by taking part in the scandalous show.
In the latest issue of Ebony, the “Scandal” star explained that as a dedicated supported of President Obama and his campaign she would never risk giving anyone another reason to unrightfully try to push Obama out of office.
“I was a little concerned because [the character has] a scandalous relationship with the [occupant of the] white house,” the “Django Unchained” actress said. “I thought, ‘If the president on the show is black, I will not do the show.’ Because to me, it was too important a moment. I didn’t want to do anything that compromised my relationship with the [president] or that made it seem like I had an insider view on the Obama presidency.”
As someone who has made several appearances at charity and campaign events, there is no doubt that people would have tried to accuse her of sleeping around with the President and that’s the only reason she so loyally campaigned for him.
Needless to say, Washington has no such relationship with the POTUS but she believed she would be disrespectful if she even considered taking the role with a black president.
“I thought that would be so disrespectful and so against all the work that I had done,” she added.
While it may seem like a far fetched idea to those who are smart enough to realize TV is fictional, take into account the fact that people have already begun raising an eyebrow at the original Bush administration simply because of the new TV drama.
Judy Smith, who would be the real life Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington’s character), had to take to Oprah to deny any claims that she had an intimate relationship with President Bush.
“No, I never dated the first President Bush,” she said during her sit down with Oprah.
The power the media has to give people not-so-bright ideas and the obvious animosity many people have towards America’s first black president surely would have been enough to have someone posted on the White House’s “We The People” petition site ordering that President Obama be impeached for his unfaithful ways.
Apparently some people haven’t quite grasped the difference between a TV drama and a documentary – well here’s a hint: one is fake.
The good news is that the shows creator, Shonda Rhimes, did opt for a white president in the TV show which means the only concerns most people have with the show can easily be explained away.
Star Jones took to Twitter back in January to express her disappointment with Kerry Washington’s character.
“??? For @ShondaRhimes: Why does #OliviaPope reject fine azz Senate Maj Leader #EdisonDavis for married #POTUS w/ a pregnant wife #Scandal,” Jones tweeted as she ironically had a problem with the scandalous nature of the show.
Before Shonda Rhimes could respond, Star Jones was already tweeting her opinion again to let people know she would have done things differently.
“I love #scandal,” Star tweeted. “@kerrywashington is ridiculously good… but I’d love to see #OliviaPope reject the unethical & immoral for a good brother!”
The next day Rhimes finally caught sight of the tweet and had a simple response that made perfect sense given the shows title.
“OH! Just read the tweets,” the “Scandal” created responded. “Here’s answer: Because the show is not a fairy tale & Olivia is not a role model.”
With an explanation like that even Jones herself could only respond saying, “Fair enough.”
Apparently, there aren’t too many fans who are on Star’s bandwagon either because the show gains roughly 2,200 tweets per minute thanks to all the love from adoring fans a dedicated cast.
Obviously, Twitter and other social media have become huge marketing tools for new TV shows, movies, products, you name it. So with a clever strategy and a cast ready to interact with their loyal fans “Scandal” has easily taken over Twitterverse.
Even if you haven’t seen the show, or even a commercial for it, you probably know quite a bit about the show thanks to the #AskScandal, #WhoShotFitz, and #WhatTheHuck hashtags that become trending instantly when the show comes on.
Rhimes admitted to The Hollywood Reported that part of the Twitter success came from the actors and actresses in the series who had no problem live tweeting when the show airs.
“Everybody is super-involved and willing to do whatever it takes to make this show work,” the show’s creator said. “People heard about the show from other people – Oprah Winfrey heard about it from Twitter – and that got other people watching. That really helped us.”
Averaging a 3.1 rating this season means that the new Twitter strategy is definitely working and is finally allowing the show to successfully compete against the ever-so-popular “Grey’s Anatomy.”
