Kerry Washington Recalls Alerting the Obamas of Her Spicy Presidential Storyline in "Scandal": 'Lil Awkward'

12/18/2024 08:54 PM

"On the show, I'm sleeping with the president,'" she recalled telling President Obama's senior advisor. "But like, you know, it's gonna be fine, right?"

Kerry Washington is looking back at an awkward phone call she made when she landed the role as Olivia Pope.

While appearing on The View on Dec. 18, the Scandal star, 47, revealed that she once made a call to the White House to make sure her role on the hit ABC drama didn't conflict with her political responsibilities.

At the time of Scandal's release in 2012, Washington was a member of President Barack Obama's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

Related: Scandal Reunion! Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn, Bellamy Young and More Stars Set to Reunite for 'Worthy Cause' (Exclusive)

"I had to call Valerie Jarrett, who worked for the Obamas, and say, 'I just want you to know that I've been cast in this show. Lil awkward, because on the show, I'm sleeping with the president,'" she explained, referring to Obama's longest-serving senior advisor. "But like, you know, it's gonna be fine, right?"

"I wanted to give them a chance to distance themselves if they needed to," she added. "But they were like, 'It's fine. It's TV.' Again, for art, everything's okay!" 

From 2012 to 2018, Washington and her costar Tony Goldwyn portrayed political fixer Pope and President Fitzgerald Grant II respectively. In the premiere episode, the series revealed that the two were having an affair. Over the course of seven seasons, fans of Scandal famously dubbed the characters' love story as "Olitz," a combination of both of their names.

Related: Kerry Washington Uses Black Wife Effect Trend for Tony Goldwyn's Scandal Character: 'I've Upgraded Your Life'

Washington's Pope was inspired by Judy Smith, who previously served as deputy press secretary in President George H. W. Bush's administration. In 1991, she became the first Black woman to deliver a White House press briefing.

She eventually left her position to start the crisis management firm, Smith & Company — and then her real-life work inspired Scandal, which was created by Shonda Rhimes.

In April 2022, Smith told PEOPLE of how the late President Bush reacted when she informed him of Scandal's creation and the main character's steamy love story.

Related: Tony Goldwyn on Connection to Shonda Rhimes That Led to His Scandal Casting: Things 'Come Around' (Exclusive)

"I remember he left a message on the cell phone because he's always a joker. It was like, 'I love you. I want you. You left me. By the way, I'm the former leader of the free world. Call me,'" she recalled. "I called him up. I said, 'See, this is why I'm calling you now. Let's stop joking about this stuff.' And so I told him what the storyline was going to be, and he said, 'Oh, yeah. No, yeah. I remember that.' I said, 'No, there's nothing! There's no relationship. Don't even be joking that any of that stuff is true!'"

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"I had to tell him. I said, 'It's not good. It's not going to be good. People are not going to take your joking,'" she continued. "Because he was known as a jokester, he had a reputation of that. I was like, 'This is nothing to play with now.'"