The Scandal creator delivered a powerful acceptance speech at the International Emmy Awards in November, where she discussed how the election has caused her to reevaluate how she wields her influence. "I don’t often think about it, because I have not had to. People have asked me about diversity, and I chastised them,” she said, never mentioning the president-elect by name. “They’ve asked me about legacy, and I ignored them. They have talked to me about influence, and I changed the subject. A lot of people right now are scared here. They’re nervous and they’re worried: people of color, any woman who values her body and her choices, LGBTQ people, immigrants, Muslims, people with disabilities. They’re afraid that their voices will no longer be heard, and they believe that they’re gonna be silenced.
“So I never [really thought] about it, but now I’m really thinking about it: how big a reach television has, how it’s the most powerful source of communication and the world, how you see our faces and tell our stories and you care," she concluded. “We hope; you hope. We dream; you dream. We fall; you fall. Three million viewers in 67 countries. Words have power. TV has power. My pen has power. I’m thinking about that."
