Over the years, the name Shonda Rhimes has become synonymous with great television shows. The TV writer and producer is responsible for hit ABC dramas like How to Get Away with Murder, Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, and Private Practice.
Now according to the Hollywood Reporter, Rhimes is the “highest-paid showrunner in television.”
Last year, Rhimes announced she would be ending her 15-year partnership with ABC and signing a multiyear deal with Netflix, as previously reported by the Inquisitr. The streaming giant soon announced the first eight projects being developed as a result of its new partnership with Rhimes.
It was later reported that Netflix would be paying Rhimes $150 million, but during Elle magazine’s 25th annual Women in Hollywood celebration, Rhimes revealed this wasn’t the case. While delivering her speech, the creative powerhouse said she allowed her salary to be reported incorrectly. According to Rhimes, women simply don’t brag enough, instead they hide their accomplishments while men brag even when they don’t deserve to. “The other day I came to this conclusion that men brag and women hide. Even when they don’t deserve to brag, men brag — Trump, Kavanaugh — and when men do deserve to brag, they are good at it. They do it so well.”
“On behalf of women everywhere in the name of not leaving my sister hanging, I will brag. I got to say this is harder than I thought. […] I am the highest-paid showrunner in television.”
If one takes into consideration the fact that Ryan Murphy, who signed a five-year deal with Netflix, is reportedly making as much as $300 million; and Greg Berlanti, who is responsible for TV shows like The Flash and Arrow, has a deal with Warner Bros. Television worth a reported $400 million, then this declaration could mean the prolific writer is earning a much higher amount than was initially reported.
Rhimes went on to encourage her fellow honorees and other powerful women in attendance to set an example by demanding what they deserve. “We are powerful women, and when we say we have power, what we are really saying is that we deserve to have power. We deserve whatever good thing it is that we are getting. Demanding what you deserve can feel like a radical act.”
As for Rhimes’s new projects with Netflix, no official dates have been announced but the eight shows will likely provide a mixture of every genre. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the lineup includes Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change, a book by Ellen Pao, based on her experience working in Silicon Valley’s boys’ club. It also includes a love story based in England and a captivating tale about the struggles faced by African-Americans fleeing the Jim Crow south.