When is the best time to rub success in your hater’s face and throw a little shade ? If you’re Viola Davis, it’s as the People’s Choice Awards in your acceptance speech for Favorite Actress in the hit show “How To Get Away With Murder”.
In this speech Davis eloquently shaded New York Times TV critic, Alessandra Stanley, by saying, “Thank you Shonda Rhimes, [producer] Betsy Beers and [creator] Peter Norwalk for thinking of a leading lady who looks like my ‘classic beauty. “Then continued with “I’m so proud to be an actor and so happy to do what I do. And I’m so happy that people have accepted me in this role at this stage in my career.”
While some are confused as to why Davis would reference her “classic beauty”, the reason is because of an article where Stanley questioned the her being casted as a sexual character by saying,
“As Annalise, Ms. Davis, 49, is sexual and even sexy, in a slightly menacing way, but the actress doesn’t look at all like the typical star of a network drama. Ignoring the narrow beauty standards some African-American women are held to, Ms. Rhimes chose a performer who is older, darker-skinned and less classically beautiful than Ms. Washington, or for that matter Halle Berry, who played an astronaut on the summer mini-series ‘Extant’.”
Despite all of the negativity Viola received from the critic, the show is still number 1 in the ratings, and she has timeless beauty. Congrats on your People’s Choice Award, Viola. We can’t wait for TGIT to return on January 29th.
Photo Credit: Getty Images