Entertainment weekly cover shonda rhimes biography

For most people, it’s hard to have a real-talk conversation with your boss in the room. Then again, most people don’t work for Shonda Rhimes. When Viola Davis (How to Get Away With Murder), Kerry Washington (Scandal), and Ellen Pompeo (Grey’s Anatomy) joined Shondaland’s mastermind for wine and cheese in Los Angeles, no one held back.

Shonda Rhimes reveals what it was like to shoot her EW cover ...

There were many strong opinions about McDreamy’s death. There was frank discussion of racism and sexism in Hollywood. There was a lot of laughter, and some raw emotion. Pompeo perched on the edge of Washington’s armchair, and everyone hugged Davis when her husband whisked her away to celebrate her 50th birthday. It felt like an easy chat among four women who know one another well enough to be honest.

Lucky for EW, they let us listen in.

Shonda Rhimes & Her Leading Ladies Cover EW's New Issue!

Below, some highlights from that conversation.

Ellen Pompeo on the sexist response to McDreamy’s death: “All of a sudden, Shonda Rhimes reveals what it was like to shoot her EW cover ... XUGID