Celebrated television producer Shonda Rhimes left ABC after 15 years of producing shows like Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy—and now she’s explaining why.
In a honest conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Rhimes revealed she had been in an ongoing battle with ABC over multi-year deals and compensation years before her departure. But wasn’t until she attempted to receive an additional all-inclusive Disneyland pass for her sister (which was a perk allotted to her through her deal with ABC at the time) that she decided to leave the network. After allegedly being told “Don’t you have enough?” by a high-ranking official, Rhimes immediately called her lawyer and implored that they negotiate a deal with Netflix.
Since then, she has signed a nine-figure deal with the streaming service and producers like Ryan Murphy have followed in her footsteps.
In the interview, Rhimes said that her relationship with Netflix was a work in progress and that she was emphatic about the type of work she wanted to create. “I said, ‘I just want to be in a place where I can make stuff and no one’s going to bother me or make me feel like I’m beholden,” Rhimes said, reminiscing on a 2016 conversation with Netflix’s CEO.
Three years after Rhimes’ first-of-its-kind deal with Netflix, she is finally releasing two new bodies of work.
Her first project with the content giant will be a documentary about choreographer and director, Debbie Allen, which will be available on Nov. 27th. She will also be releasing a period drama, Bridgerton, on Dec. 25th.