Last week’s episode of “Scandal,” titled “The Lawn Chair,” drew a number of reactions due to its bold Ferguson-inspired plot, which found Kerry Washington’s character Olivia Pope engulfed in the controversy following a fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old African-American boy.
According to “Scandal” star Tony Goldwyn, the airing of the episode couldn’t have come at a more pivotal point, as America continues to wrestle its issues with police relations following the fatal shooting of unarmed Wisconsin resident Tony Robinson, and the U.S. Department of Justice clearing former Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson of charges in the killing of Michael Brown.
“It really is Shonda’s way of tackling the national conversation that we’re having about Ferguson, about Eric Garner, about the shooting now in Wisconsin … on the 50th anniversary of the Selma marches," Goldwyn said to the Associated Press during Sunday’s PaleyFest in Los Angeles, referring to show creator Shonda Rhimes. "She wanted to have the conversation about all of these issues that are roiling the American consciousness right now. And we really deal with it."
The show’s theme went on to become a popular topic during the event as Kerry Washington also commended Rhimes’ decision to incorporate the controversial subject into the episode.
“It was about lives mattering regardless of who you are,” the Golden Globe-nominated actress reportedly said during a panel at the event. “I was very moved that Shonda had a lot of feelings about what’s been going on and that her form of protest, her form of expression, her way of contributing, is to write.”
Read more of Kerry Washington’s thoughts on the episode here, and check out more reactions from the “Scandal” cast in the clip above.
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