The Democratic National Convention delighted Scandal fans everywhere when it announced that Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn would be among the week’s lineup of nightly Hollywood hosts.
The pair played out having proximity to the White House onscreen when they starred opposite each other as Washington, D.C., fixer Olivia Pope and President Fitzgerald “Fitz” Grant, respectively, on Shonda Rhimes‘ hit ABC political drama that ran for seven seasons. But in real life, the actors have become vocal political activists for the Democratic party.
Goldwyn was set as the opening night host, with Washington readying to host the final night when Vice President Kamala Harris would officially accept the Democratic party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential race.
With three nights between them, it wasn’t clear if a Scandal reunion would materialize. But, on Wednesday, the third night of the DNC, the former co-stars were both in the arena at Chicago’s United Center and decided to, as Washington wrote, give the people what they want.
Both stars shared photos with one another on their Instagram Stories, and Washington shared the captured moments on X (below).
Then on Thursday, when Washington took the stage, she opened by invoking her TV character to deliver her message to voters.
“As I stand here, I know there are folks on social media already saying, ‘Go back to your TV show. Shut up and act.’ I am not here tonight as an actor. I am here as a mother, as a daughter, as a proud union member. I am here as the granddaughter of immigrants, as a Black woman descended from enslaved people. I am here tonight because I am an American and because I am a voter, and because we the people are stronger when all of our voices are heard.”
She continued, “I know that I am the one standing on the stage, but I am not the lead character in the story. You are, all of you. You are the messengers. You are the fixers. Dare I say it, you are the Olivia Pope. You are the superhero saving this Democracy.”
She then pulled Goldwyn with her onto the stage, encouraged the audience to pull our their phones and led the room in a chant that she later shared to social media (below). After the chant, she then brought Harris’ great-nieces, Amara and Leela Ajagu, to the stage to teach how to correctly pronounce Harris’ first name (“Comma-lah”), to rousing participation and applause.
Along with Washington and Goldwyn, Mindy Kaling and Ana Navarro were also tapped to host a night of the four-day event in Chicago. On their respective nights, they kicked off the primetime broadcast with opening remarks and made appearances throughout the evening.
Greg Propper, a longtime social impact adviser to stars like Washington who was tapped by the Harris campaign to manage Hollywood support, recently shared the campaign’s approach to deploying stars to stump for Harris with The Hollywood Reporter. After President Joe Biden’s announcement that he was stepping down from the ticket, “what we saw happen over the next 48 hours was that folks in the entertainment and creative community felt really energized by Harris’ candidacy,” Propper said. But he made it clear: “This is not going to be a celebrity-driven campaign. It’s going to be a people-driven campaign. The vice president wants to make sure it includes everybody.”
Washington started working with Propper and his L.A.-based firm Propper Daley in 2018. Two years later, she hosted a night of 2020’s DNC, which took place on Zoom. “This isn’t just about candidates and election cycles,” Washington told THR of her involvement. “It’s about building a future where everyone understands their voice and their power within our democracy.”
The UnPrisoned star-producer, meanwhile, has been sharing her high-wattage audience interactions and backstage encounters on social media, including a post with Wednesday’s surprise Hollywood speaker, Oprah Winfrey, and filmmaker Ava DuVernay. “Three Black women with ‘Black Jobs’ ready to watch @KamalaHarris come and take her ‘Black Job,’” she posted on Thursday, echoing former first lady Michelle Obama’s DNC stage jab at Harris’ opponent, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, and in preparation for Thursday’s main event.
This story originally posted Aug. 22, 11:27 a.m. and was updated with Washington’s Thursday night appearance.
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