In this month’s EBONY with Kerry Washington on the cover, the actress says if the married president that her character is having a steamy affair with was black she would have passed on the role of Olivia Pope.

Excerpt from EBONY interview:

“I was a little concerned because [the character has] a scandalous relationship with the [occupant of the] White House,” the actress said. “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.”

When I watched the first two episodes of Scandal, and the only ones I’ve ever watched, I actually asked myself two questions:

1) If the fictional president was black, would this show even be on tv? (probably not, way too much blackness)

2) If the fictional president was black, would she have taken on the role?

I’m not a fan of Scandal, I’d rather focus my tv watching attention on things that are more likely to happen in the world, like the zombie apocalypse by watching The Walking Dead. But I do appreciate the fact that Kerry didn’t want to besmirch her current “non-fictional” relationship with President Obama.

There are two types of Scandal people, those who hate it and those who obsess over it. Do I agree with Kerry’s character having an affair with the president? Not at all. But I also understand the difference between fiction, reality, and the big business of television.

What do you think about Kerry’s admission? Would it have made a difference if Scandal’s president was black?