Say it ain’t so! Gladiators everywhere were freaking out after Good Morning America announced that the upcoming sixth season of Scandal would be its last. Coanchor Lara Spencer quoted the news as coming straight from the ABC drama’s creator, Shonda Rhimes.
During the Wednesday, July 27, broadcast, the cohosts were discussing that the cast of Scandal just headed back to work and have been sharing behind-the-scenes pics on social media. Spencer said, “A little bittersweet, however, because it has been said that this is also going to be the final season.”
“Who said that?” cohost Michael Strahan asked.
“I’m afraid to say it … Shonda Rhimes, she said, yeah,” Spencer replied. “And it is tremendous, so enjoy every minute of it.”
Luckily, Rhimes, 46, happened to be watching and quickly corrected the error. “Woah, @GMA,” the Grey’s Anatomy creator tweeted on Wednesday. “I never said this was the final season of #scandal. Way to make me spit out my coffee.”
About half an hour after Rhimes called out GMA on the mistake, Spencer corrected her previous comments on air. “Hey, during Pop News, we said that this was the last season of Scandal. Shonda has weighed in, she just tweeted and she said we made her spit out her coffee. My apologies. She said she has an ending in mind, but that ending is not happening this next season. So thank you, Shonda. Yes, we can all breathe, because as you guys know, it is my absolute favorite show.”
The TV producer happily replied, “Thank you for the correction, @LaraSpencer — you have my back.”
Production for Scandal’s sixth season, which will air in early 2017, began earlier this week. Kerry Washington (Olivia Pope) posted several smiling selfies with her costars on set, and Tony Goldwyn (President Fitzgerald Grant) shared a pic of the cast at a table read. “We’re back! #6candal table read. #bestdayever,” he posted on Tuesday.
