Kerry Washington: 'Scandal wouldn't get made today with a Black actress as the lead'

Kerry Washington is convinced Scandal wouldn't get the green light in today's TV landscape with a Black actress in the starring role.

The political drama, created by Shonda Rhimes, followed the story of Olivia Pope, a former media consultant to the President of the United States.

It ran for seven seasons from 2012, and marked only the third time in American TV history that a Black woman had fronted a network drama, reports E Online.

"No, 100 percent no. For so many reasons," Kerry, 47, said during a panel discussion at the Bloomberg Screentime conference when asked if she thought it would get made today.

"I was in my early thirties at the time, so it hadn't happened in my lifetime. I hadn't seen it, and everybody called it a risk. The studio thought it was a risk, the network thought it was a risk. Everybody was proud of ABC (and) Disney for taking this risk."

"I don't know that it would have been greenlit with me, with a Black woman at the centre," she added, calling today's execs "risk-adverse".

She further highlighted that Connie Britton was the actress first considered for the part.

"Shonda Rhimes has talked about this publicly. When they first read the script, the executives were like, 'This is a great role for Connie Britton.' And I love Connie, but the show is inspired by a real woman named Judy Smith, who is a Black woman," Kerry outlined.

"If it hadn't been inspired by a real woman who is a Black woman, then everybody would have said, 'Let's make her white.' You didn't have the option to say that."