Kerry Washington discusses ‘very real fear’ that someone will call police on her and her children

Kerry Washington has opened up about the “very real fear” she feels when playing with her children outside.

The actor told journalist Jemele Hill in a recent episode of the Jemele Hill Is Unbothered podcast that she fears someone might one day call police on her and her family.

Washington stressed that such fears are valid regardless of her own personal fame, telling Hill: “It's crazy-making when somebody says like, 'How dare you, Kerry Washington, have a voice. You're a so-privileged, Hollywood actor person.'

“…No matter what I do, no matter how many Emmy nominations, I am still scared at times to scooter in neighborhoods with my kids where I feel like somebody could call the cops.”

She stressed that “that cop may never have seen Scandal,” the show in which she portrayed crisis manager Olivia Pope for seven seasons.

“I still have that very real fear,” she added. “…My fear is not irrational, my fear is rooted in historical truth and fact, and there is real social science to support the fact that I do deserve to continue to speak out.”

Washington recently played the lead role in American Son, the film adaptation of the play of the same name by Christopher Demos-Brown. The film was nominated for Outstanding Television Movie at the 2020 Emmys.