Kerry Washington Would Have Passed Up Her Role On Scandal If The President Was Black

Actress Kerry Washington is currently starring in one of the most talked about roles on television each and every week, as she portrays White House crisis manager Olivia Pope on Scandal, however it was a role she would have walked away from.

In the recent issue of Ebony Magazine, she revealed that if the President was a black man on the show, she would have turned down the role.

I was a little concerned because [the character has] a scandalous relationship with the [occupant of the] White House.

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.

I thought that would be so disrespectful and so against all the work that I had done.