Another actor is speaking out about the controversial New York Times Shonda Rhimes piece that described the “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” creator as “an angry black woman.”
“Grey’s” star Jesse Williams stopped by “The
Also read: NY Times’ Top Editor Questions Newsroom Diversity After Shonda Rhimes Fallout
“This person knows zero about Shonda Rhimes,” Williams said of the author, Times critic Alessandra Stanley.
“I got bored by being offended,” Latifah added, about the length of the article and how rampant racial insensitivity is in the media.
Williams agreed. “Do you know how many characters Shonda Rhimes has created?” he asked. “Iconic, iconic characters, and how diverse they are? ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ is the most incredible example of how it’s perfectly doable to have a diverse cast of people who are representing themselves and are whole human beings, and are not demonstratively Black or Asian, or female or Latino … just people being people.”
The showrunner herself fired back at the article, which has sparked a larger conversation about race.
“Wait. I’m ‘angry’ and a romance writer?!” Rhimes wrote Friday morning on Twitter. “I’m going to need to put down the internet and go dance this one out. [Stuff is] getting real.”
That same day “How to Get Away With Murder” star Viola Davis tweeted, “You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise!!!” Rhimes executive produces Davis’ new ABC drama.
The fallout has also cast a spotlight on the New York Times’ own newsroom diversity. Stanley, who was heavily criticized for her Sept. 18 review of “How to Get Away With Murder,” is part of the publication’s staff of cultural critics, which has 20 writers but only two people of color.
Watch the video of Jesse Williams‘ interview with Queen Latifah above.