Alessandra Stanley, the television critic for the New York Times, is standing by her profile of Shonda Rhimes even though it’s been soundly (and fairly) criticized for its racism. The profile was published online Thursday and will be in the paper’s Sunday print edition.
The article’s lede is this: "When Shonda Rhimes writes her autobiography, it should be called "How to Get Away With Being an Angry Black Woman."
And it gets much, much worse.
Talking Points Memo’s Tom Kludt reached out to Stanley for a comment on the piece, and it looks like she’s sticking by it. "The whole point of the piece — once you read past the first 140 characters — is to praise Shonda Rhimes for pushing back so successfully on a tiresome but insidious stereotype."
Meanwhile, Rhimes is over it:
Wait. I’m" angry" AND a ROMANCE WRITER?!! I’m going to need to put down the internet and go dance this one out. Because ish is getting real.
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) September 19, 2014