Shonda Rhimes furious over casting question

Shonda Rhimes has slammed an "ignorant" article about “ethnic casting”.

Deadline writer Nellie Andreeva yesterday published a piece on the website, titled: "Pilots 2015: The Year Of Ethnic Castings – About Time Or Too Much Of Good Thing?"

Referencing shows such as How to Get Away with Murder and Black-ish, she argued that, while opening up parts to "ethnic actors" was initially welcome, "the pendulum might have swung a bit too far in the opposite direction".

Scandal star Shonda immediately took to Twitter to voice her opinion.

"1st Reaction:: HELL NO. Lemme take off my earrings, somebody hold my purse! 2nd Reaction: Article is so ignorant I can't even be bothered. (sic)," she posted.

The 45-year-old was overwhelmed with support from fellow A-listers, including TV critic Emily Nussbaum, who wrote: "Hey look the grossest possible reaction to a breakthrough TV year (sic)," adding a link to the article.

Meanwhile, New Republic editor Jamil Smith tweeted: "What troubles me is the decision-makers in Hollywood who will read that @Deadline tripe about black actors in television and say, "Exactly." (sic)"

Shonda's Scandal co-star Kerry Washington has not yet responded to the piece. However, at the recent GLAAD Awards she gave a powerful speech that touched many people.

“Women, poor people, people of colour, people with disabilities, immigrants, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, trans people, intersex people… have been pitted against each other and made to feel like there are limited seats at the table for those of us who fall into the category of other,” she argued to a cheering crowd.

Kerry picked up the Vanguard honour at the ceremony last weekend.