Kerry Washington has been featured as the cover star of ESSENCE’s May issue! In this issue, she talks the end of Scandal, the importance of representation, and how Hollywood is changing thanks to women speaking out.
Speaking with writer and editor Rebecca Carroll, Washington wholeheartedly agreed that the culture of Hollywood has gotten smarter since women have come to the forefront with the #TimesUp and #MeToo campaign.
“I have noticed in the last three years or so, we’re just reaching out to each other more. That’s been one of the most 
powerful parts, for me, of being involved with the Time’s Ups movement. It has changed the ways we operate. It changes what awards shows and parties feel like. We are becoming stronger as communities, as Black women, as larger circles of women of color, larger circles of women in Hollywood, larger circles of just people in Hollywood who give a shit.” Kerry Washington says.
As regards wrapping up the scandal series and playing Olivia Pope, Kerry says “I feel like whenever I play a character, I feel she comes into my life to teach me something. I’ve never had the privilege of playing a character for this long, but of the many things Olivia Pope has given me is this sense that anything’s possible, that there’s always a way through.”
She continued, “I think it’s one of the reasons why I started a production company. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve done a lot of the things that have required courage.”