Shonda Rhimes Admits She Was “Waiting” To Be Blamed For The Shift To Streaming During The Strike: “This Is Partially Your Fault”

Shonda Rhimes, creator of hit television dramas such as Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton, recently reflected on how she felt during the recent writer’s strike.

Rhimes admitted that she expected to be called out by other writers for being one of the first major creators to strike a “big deal” with Netflix, signaling a larger shift to streaming.

“I will admit that I was sort of waiting for someone to say, ‘You made the first big deal that started people moving into streaming…And therefore, like, this is partially your fault,'” she said, per Deadline.

Rhimes scored a major deal with Netflix in 2017 after having worked with ABC for many years.

“I’d been making television at one place for such a long time,” she explained. “And at the time, I remember The Crown was on Netflix [and] someone was telling me that they spent $12 million an episode on The Crown… You could see that they could do things there that you can’t do on [broadcast] television.”

The Shondaland boss recalled a conversation she had with co-CEO Ted Sarandos during which she said, “I just want to make shows and be left alone.”

Ryan Murphy and others later followed. “It started a big sort of chain of people moving to streaming,” she said.

She also admitted that the strike did not impact her the same way it affected other WGA members. “I consider myself to be a writer, first and foremost. So I was a writer on strike. And I was very aware that I [was] not on strike the way a lot of people [were] on strike,” she said.

She continued, “You know, I don’t live in LA. So I wasn’t on the picket lines every day. I wasn’t going to lose my job, or my house, or my car, or not be able to pay my kid’s school tuition. But the strike was for those people, for the people who make much less as writers than I do, who are trying to get a living wage. And we’re trying to make sure that their futures are assured.”

Now, Rhimes is continuing her work. Bridgerton is set to return to Netflix with a third season, while Grey’s Anatomy is entering its 20th season on television.