Kerry Washington Joins Hillary Clinton And Madonna In Celebrating Gender Equality

Kerry Washington is arguably the most popular woman on American television right now, and she is using her power, along with such other successful women such as Madonna and Hillary Clinton, to address women’s rights.

Kerry Washington has done plenty for gender and racial equality on the show Scandal. She has also spoken about gender equality in several different interviews. Washington is actually involved in a lot of other causes, as well.

As E! Online notes, Sunday marked International Women’s Day around the world, where millions of people took time to acknowledge the power of females and the need for gender equality anywhere and everywhere. Kerry Washington made sure to hit her Twitter account where it counted.

“#Happy #InternationalWomensDay. How are we celebrating?” Washington asked her followers.

Kerry Washington just gave an inspiring and emotional performance in “The Lawn Chair” episode of Scandal. In the episode, Ms. Washington’s character (Olivia Pope) deals with the fallout after an unarmed young man was shot, with the police claiming the young man had a knife. Washington’s character is supposed to help out the police and city for PR purposes, but she realizes the story is too close to home in order to avoid bias. Washington’s character ends up participating in a protest against the police.

Speaking of real scandals, Kerry Washington was recently involved in a major one. InStyle put Washington on the cover of their magazine, but her skin was lightened and many thought they were trying to make her look more “white.” InStyle responded to the controversy involving the Scandal star.

“We are super fans of Kerry Washington here at InStyle. To feature her on the cover of our March spring fashion issue is both an honor and a delight. We have heard from those who have spoken out about our newsstand cover photograph, concerned that Kerry’s skin tone was lightened. While we did not digitally lighten Kerry’s skin tone, our cover lighting has likely contributed to this concern. We understand that this has resulted in disappointment and hurt. We are listening, and the feedback has been valuable.”

Kerry Washington thanked InStyle and said that the issue the controversy brought up sparked a conversation that needs to be had. Washington made her statement without condemning either InStyle or the fans on Twitter who complained about the extra lighting. Washington has left the controversy behind her and will appear at PaleyFest Sunday night with other Scandal cast members.

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images]