Shonda Rhimes Fires Back at New York Times Critic Who Called Her ‘Angry Black Woman’

Executive producer takes issue with review of “How to Get Away With Murder”

shonda rhimes abc how to get away with murder

Shonda Rhimes is responding to a New York Times critic who called her an “angry black woman” in a review for “How to Get Away With Murder,” the new ABC drama Rhimes is executive producing.

“Wait. I’m ‘angry’ and a romance writer?!” Rhimes exclaimed Friday morning on Twitter. “I’m going to need to put down the internet and go dance this one out. [Stuff is] getting real.”

Also read: Shonda Rhimes to Make Acting Debut on ‘The Mindy Project’

Rhimes is perhaps best known for creating “Scandal,” which stars Kerry Washington as the fashionable, fiery political consultant Olivia Pope, and Times’ critic Alessandra Stanley centers her piece around the evolution of black female characters on television.

“When Shonda Rhimes writes her autobiography, it should be called ‘How to Get Away With Being an Angry Black Woman,’” writes Stanley. “Rhimes, who wrought Olivia Pope on ‘Scandal’ and Dr. Miranda Bailey on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ has done more to reset the image of African-American women on television than anyone since Oprah Winfrey.”

“Ms. Rhimes has embraced the trite but persistent caricature of the Angry Black Woman, recast it in her own image and made it enviable. She has almost single-handedly trampled a taboo even Michelle Obama couldn’t break,” Stanley adds.

Also read: Hey, New York Times ‘Vows’ Section: Who Cares If ‘The Bride is Keeping Her Name’?

The review itself was titled “Wrought in Their Creator’s Image” and in it Stanley repeatedly credits Rhimes with “constructing” elements of the series, but as Rhimes pointed out in one of her tweets, she only serves as an executive producer on the show. “How to Get Away With Murder’s” creator is actually Peter Nowalk.

Here are all of Rhimes tweets on the subject, each has already been favorited and retweeted hundreds of times.

Also read: Twitter TV Ratings: ‘Miss America’ Tops the Week Despite Poor Viewership

 

 

“How to Get Away With Murder” debuts Thursday, Sept. 25 at 10:00 pm ET on ABC.

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