'Scandal' Creator Shonda Rhimes Explains Why She Felt Insulted by ABC During Season One

Shonda Rhimes is one of the most powerful producers working in television today, but when she pitched Scandal to ABC, the network didn’t seem to have full confidence in the show.

Shonda at the time had a huge hit on ABC with Grey’s Anatomy, but the network only gave Scandal a seven-episode first season instead of a full-season order.

“As somebody who had made a gigantic hit for a network, a hit that 14 seasons later, it is still a hit, to be given only seven episodes of a show that I made was a problem… To me it spoke to a lack of faith in the idea that a black woman could be the lead of a television show. And I found that to be insulting,” Shonda shared in a new interview with BuzzFeed.

Scandal will be coming to a close TONIGHT (April 19) at 10/9c. Make sure to watch the series finale live!

In other Shonda news, she is a big fan of the Apple Watch and wore the sleek accessory alongside Kerry Washington in a new Instagram photo that she posted this week.