Shonda Rhimes Reveals She Almost Called Off ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

Shonda Rhimes revealed she almost called off the production of Grey’s Anatomy out of fear that it would have “an all-white” cast.

Rhimes, the television producer and screenwriter behind the iconic medical drama show, revealed on Issa Rae’s HBO documentary Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television that she was initially worried about the series’ direction.

“I’d done something, I guess, people didn’t do,” Rhimes said. “I hadn’t written anyone’s race into the script.”

Rhimes said the omission meant casting calls for the series were flooded with white actors.

“They would keep sending us these actors who all look the same, who were white,” she said. “I remember standing up in the room and looking at the president of the network at the time and saying, ‘I’m not going to have an all white