Editorial

Viola Davis Expertly Shades NY Times

By Jezebel | Friday, January 9, 2015

During Wednesday night’s People’s Choice Awards, wearing a bold gown and a solid wig choice, Viola Davis took the stage to accept the award for Favorite Actress in a New TV Series. She thanked lots of people—her daughter, her husband, Shonda Rhimes. She also managed to slip in a little dig at The New York Times.

In her speech, Davis shouted out the creators of How to Get Away with Murder for the opportunity, saying, “Thank you Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers and Peter Nowalk for thinking of a leading lady who looks like my classic beauty.”

As the kids and Nene would say: Bloop! Yes, that was an expert jab at Alessandra Stanley for her racist New York Times article that reduced Shonda Rhimes to an angry black woman and referred to Davis as “less classically beautiful.” If that wasn’t enough, Davis added a facial expression that can only be described as icing on a shade cake. Judge Kara R. Brown, this incident officially qualifies as public shade, right?