Kerry Washington says she still loves that fans cannot quite let go of Olivia Pope and Fitzgerald Grant. On the Tuesday, April 14 episode of the Good Hang podcast, Washington talked about Tony Goldwyn, the longtime Scandal co-star whose on-screen chemistry with her still fuels real-life shipping years after the show ended.
Washington said she is grateful for the healthy relationships she had with the men on Scandal, including Scott Foley and Goldwyn, and added that she loves Goldwyn’s wife and that Goldwyn and his wife love her husband, Nnamdi Asomugha. When Amy Poehler noted that fans still ship Washington and Goldwyn despite their marriages, Washington laughed it off and said, “So hard.” She also said, “By the way, we like to f*** with people. I post stuff all the time with Tony.”
That dynamic has followed Washington since Scandal ended its seven-season run in 2018. On the ABC drama, Washington played Olivia Pope from 2012 to 2018, while Goldwyn portrayed President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III, Olivia’s on-again, off-again love interest. The pairing became one of the show’s defining engines, and Washington said on the podcast that she loves how deeply viewers responded to it.
“I love that people ship them. I love it. I love it so much,” she said, before adding, “I love that people get into arguments. … I love that we gave people romance, that we gave people escapism, that we made people think, that we made people feel. I love all of that.”
The fan fixation has also kept reboot talk alive. In March, Washington said Shonda Rhimes would ultimately have to be the one to ask about bringing Scandal back, and she joked that she has “imaginary children” she has been taking selfies with around town, a reference to actors Chase Infiniti and Tyriq Withers, whom fans have cast as Olivia and Fitz’s children. She later said the joke “will not die” and that both younger actors resemble the Scandal leads.
Scott Foley, who also starred on the series, said in December 2025 that a reboot would depend on Rhimes getting excited and deciding where the characters are in their lives. He also noted that Washington is busy, saying she has “the new Knives Out sequel,” a sign that any revival would have to wait for the right moment. For now, Washington’s comments make the answer plain: she is happy to keep feeding the fandom, but a true Scandal return still rests with Rhimes.
Goldwyn, meanwhile, has been married to Jane Musky since 1987, another reason the shipping remains rooted in fantasy rather than anything real. But Washington’s podcast appearance showed why the pair still matter to viewers: their characters gave fans a soap-operatic romance, and the people who played them still seem amused by how hard the audience holds on.