Shonda Rhimes responds to fans who thought the kidnapping and selling of Olivia Pope on “Scandal” went too far

Considering it's Black History month in the United States, some viewers thought ABC's Scandal crossed the line with Olivia Pope’s (Kerry Washington) kidnapping and being taken to a dilapidated prison cell in what seemed to be a country in Africa and subsequent auctioning her off, drawing comparisons to slavery and Shonda Rhimes has responded.

The tweets from some of the fans and Shonda Rhimes' response after the cut.  

Scandal was originally about a Washington, D.C. fixer, Olivia Pope, and her affair with the president from seasons 1 to 3 and part of season 4 which ended with Olivia being kidnapped from her apartment has strayed substantially from its original format in the last few months.

But in the most recent episode, “Gladiators Don’t Run,” which aired on Feb. 12, Olivia's kidnapper was killed by his subordinate, who then took control of the on going auction plan to sell her off to the highest bidder. And not only did he stop the auction hours before it was supposed to end, he took a cash payout from Iran, though it seems from trailer for next week's episode the buyer could be someone else entirely different and i kind of suspect it's Papa Pope (Joe Morton), Olivia's dad. The episode ended with Olivia being pulled out of a car in an abandoned area with a black bag over her head.

Did Shonda remember this is February...black history month...and we selling an African American woman. Oh ok then #SCANDAL
— Marica Chisolm (@maricachisolm) February 13, 2015

Wait a minute, idk how I feel about this bidding on the black lady. Isn't this slavery? #Scandal
— Antonio Burkett (@1tonyb1) February 13, 2015

a little too reminiscent of slavery. and again. this is black history month, so ... nah. not feeling it. #Scandal
— Briana B. (@1913DeucesRWild) February 13, 2015

Shonda we suppose to uplift black folks during black history month, not put us through slavery again #scandal
— Jessica Hill (@JHillDaKid) February 13, 2015

And Shonda's tweet;

We've been writing about the dynamics of race, gender & power over here at #Scandal for 4 seasons. All Gladiators know that.
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) February 13, 2015

Can't believe I need to say this: yes, I wrote 'black woman auctions herself off' storyline on PURPOSE. I have heard of slavery. #Scandal
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) February 13, 2015