Shonda Rhimes on Diversity: 'The Shows Speak for Themselves'
![](http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/GTY_shonda_rhimes_jef_140716_16x9_608.jpg)
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
Shonda Rhimes is about to follow-up her success with "Scandal," the first TV series in 30 years to be helmed by a black female star, with a new series starring Oscar-nominated actress Viola Davis.
But asked at the Television Critics Association summer press tour about the "impact of having two shows on network TV that star black women," Rhimes brushed it off, according to Deadline Hollywood.
"It remains to be seen. It hasn't happened yet," Rhimes said Tuesday about Davis' show, "How to Get Away with Murder," which airs this fall on ABC.
Shonda Rimes Shows You 'How to Get Away with Murder'
"Do I think there are any lessons? No, I don't. The shows speak for themselves," the "Grey's Anatomy" creator responded curtly.
For Davis, star of the "The Help," the new TV series gives her a chance to play the lead.
"I have gotten so many wonderful film roles," she said at the press conference, according to Deadline. "I've gotten so many where I haven't been the show - I've been invited to fabulous parties to hold up the wall. I wanted to be the show - to have a character that took me out of my comfort zone, and that happened to be on a Shonda Rhimes show. So I did the only sensible thing and took it."