We’ve all heard about that major news outlet that posted an editorial about TV being too diverse. We have also heard all of the backlash that outlet received because of it.
One of the main voices behind the opposition of that piece is showrunner Shonda Rhimes, who’s created some of ABC’s hit shows Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and has another new series in development.
While Rhimes believes that the practice of including diversity in a pilot for the sole purpose of the show potentially getting a series order is unfortunate, she embraces the fact that casting for new shows are more “color blind.”
“Literally everybody’s starring in a pilot,” Shonda Rhimes says in the latest issue of ESSENCE Magazine. “I think that’s wonderful. Part of me thinks, ‘Well that’s wildly racist of all the networks to suddenly decide that the best way to get a show on the air is to just throw a Black woman on it.’ Yet part of me feels like, ‘For God’s sake, it’s about time!’ If they’re going to be stupid, let’s use their stupidity…”
ESSENCE’s 45th anniversary May issue features five of the most prolific storytellers today who have changed the Hollywood game: Shonda Rhimes, Debbie Allen, Ava DuVernay, Mara Brock Akil and Issa Rae. In the article, Unscripted, ESSENCE gathers these influential storytellers for one epic conversation on how they are telling our stories—and crushing it!
The May issue of ESSENCE hits newsstands on 4/17.