The Gladiators are back.
The cast of Scandal will gather this weekend in Michigan for the Harris-Walz campaign's Fighting for Reproductive Freedom Bus Tour.
Kerry Washington, Tony Goldwyn, Guillermo Díaz, Bellamy Young, Katie Lowes, Dan Bucatinsky, Scott Foley, Portia de Rossi, George Newbern, Jeff Perry and Cornelius Smith Jr. will join hundreds of supporters and volunteers for Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz on Sunday for a campaign kickoff in Madison Heights, the first stop on a Michigan bus tour that will crisscross the state to lay out the stakes for reproductive freedom ahead of the 2024 election.
According to the Democratic presidential candidate's campaign, each stop will “underscore the stark contrast between Vice President Harris and Governor Walz, who will restore protections Roe deer against Wade when Congress passes a law to that effect, and Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, who will implement their dangerous Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion nationwide, limit access to birth control, force states to report women's miscarriages and unwanted pregnancies, and jeopardize access to in vitro fertilization.”
After departing Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 3, the bus tour made at least 50 stops in key states like Michigan, where it stopped in the blue and red communities of Madison Heights, Flint, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Marquette.
Abortion rights and in vitro fertilization took center stage in the recent presidential debate, with Harris saying she would restore reproductive freedom nationwide and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump refusing to say he would veto a nationwide abortion ban if re-elected.
THE Scandal reunion follows actors and activists Washington and Goldwyn as they reunite at the Democratic National Convention, where they were among the host of Hollywood’s evening hosts and surprised with a joint onstage appearance. Goldwyn hosted opening night, with Washington hosting the final night when Harris officially accepted the party’s nomination for the 2024 presidential race.
The pair starred opposite each other as Washington, D.C. fixer Olivia Pope and President Fitzgerald “Fitz” Grant, respectively, on Shonda Rhimes' hit ABC political drama, which ran for seven seasons. In 2015, the series aired a groundbreaking episode about abortion that changed the narrative around the topic for broadcast TV. The episode tackled legislation seeking to defund Planned Parenthood and saw Olivia (Washington) abort the baby, most likely belonging to Fitz (Goldwyn), ScandalRepublican President of the United States.
“I don’t think abortion has ever been presented as an option for empowered women before,” Young previously said. DAY in an oral history, in which Rhimes revealed the battle she faced with ABC to keep the storyline.
Washington, who also hosted a 2020 DNC night that took place on Zoom, recently said DAY of his involvement in the 2024 election, “This isn’t just about candidates and election cycles. This is about building a future where everyone understands their voice and their power within our democracy.”