Kerry Washington warned Obama administration about her ‘Scandal’ role: ‘I’m sleeping with the president’

nypost.com:

“The View” Wednesday that she called Barack Obama’s administration during his presidency to let them know about her role in “Scandal.”“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,'” Washington said. “But like, you know, it’s gonna be fine, right?” she added.When “Scandal” came out in 2012, Washington was a member of President Obama’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.On the hit ABC series, she played crisis management expert Olivia Pope, who has an affair with President Fitzgerald Grant III (Tony Goldwyn).Washington explained on “The View” that she wanted to give the Obama White House “a chance to distance themselves if they needed to.”“But they were like, ‘It’s fine.

It’s TV,'” she recalled. “Again, for art, everything’s okay!”Washington’s character on “Scandal” was inspired by crisis manager Judy Smith, who served as deputy press secretary in President George H.W.

Bush’s administration in the 1990s.Smith, now 66, worked with “Scandal” creator Shonda Rhimes as a producer on the show.In 2022, she spoke to People about what the late president’s reaction was when she told him about the show. “I called him up.