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Shonda Rhimes on Owning Her Shit
Even Shonda Rhimes needs a reminder to brag sometimes
A Hollywood Reporter story about Shonda Rhimes — showrunner of Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder — describes how she left ABC for Netflix: “I felt like I was dying,” Rhimes says of working for network TV. “Like I’d been pushing the same ball up the same hill in the exact same way for a really long time.”
Her move to Netflix made waves. But while Rhimes noted that she’s never had trouble “owning her power,” and “was instilled with a great deal of confidence from an early age,” she was still taken aback when a male (and White) counterpart also went to Netflix for a giant amount of money and was touted in the press for the power move.
Hollywood Reporter notes that a pivotal moment for Rhimes came when she was making a speech at Elle’s Women in Hollywood event.
After being introduced by her Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo, who had been vocal about her own dealmaking process earlier that year, Rhimes stepped up to the podium determined to own her shit. “The other day I came to the conclusion that men brag and women hide,” she began. “Even when they don’t deserve to brag, men brag. When men do deserve to brag, they’re good at it.” She kept going, turning her focus first to Pompeo and then to Murphy…
