On the final night of the Democratic National Convention, fans of the hit show Scandal enjoyed a special treat—President Fitzgerald “Fitz” Grant and the one-and-only Olivia Pope reuniting on the United Center stage.
Kerry Washington was the designated day four DNC host—a tall task, as she emceed the very evening Vice President Kamala Harris became the first Black woman and first South Asian woman to accept a major political party's nomination for president.
While speaking to the enthusiastic crowd—which wore all-white in honor of the women's suffrage movement—Washington evoked her popular character, Pope, before bringing out her oh-so very special guest.
“I know that I am the one standing on the stage, but I am not the lead character in the story," Washington said. "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 asked "somebody" to bring her her phone, to (along with the crowd) document the historic moment for social media and to use the footage as a call-to-action.
Enter her Scandal co-star, Tony Goldwyn.
Goldwyn dutifully brought Washington her phone, only for the pair to lead the crowd in a rambunctious "when we fight, we win" rallying cry that was captured and later posted on Washington's Instagram account.
When all was over, Goldwyn asked his co-star if he could stick around on stage.
“No, you gotta go," Washington replied. "Tony Goldwyn, ladies and gentlemen!”
In a previous 2023 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Washington opened up about how she was inspired by her Scandal character to increase her own political participation and activism after the show ended.
“People wanted this imaginary character to fix their problems, and I felt like this was a moment of real disconnect because we’re living in a democracy," she told the publication at the time. "We’re the people who hold the power to unlock the change that’s most important, but we keep passing that power off to characters on television."
Washington went on to found the KW Foundation, an organization dedicated to highlighting and better supporting civic engagement. In one particularly devilish (read: genius) move, Washington posted what she claimed to be a link with information about an alleged Scandal movie that was actually a link to register to vote.
In 2020, Washington was also one of several celebrities who spoke during then-candidate and now President Joe Biden's virtual Democratic National Convention.
“When I was in 7th or 8th grade, we memorized the preamble of the Constitution, and I’ve never forgotten it,” the actress said at the time. “The first 15 words of our Constitution are, ‘We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union.’ We say ‘more perfect’ because our union is not without flaws.
"When our Constitution was written, women couldn’t vote. Black people were considered three-fifths of a human being. But therein lies the work. No one is perfect. Nothing is,” Washington continued. “But it is the striving toward justice, equality and truth that distinguishes us. We fight for a more perfect union because we are fighting for the soul of this country. And for our lives. And right now, that fight is real.”
