The Gladiators are back.
The cast of Scandal is reuniting 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 and George Newbern will join hundreds of supporters and volunteers for Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz on Sunday at a canvass launch in Madison Heights for the first stop of the Michigan bus tour, as it travels the state to lay out the stakes for reproductive freedom with the 2024 election.
According to the Democratic presidential candidate’s campaign, each stop will “emphasize the stark contrast between Vice President Harris and Governor Walz, who will restore the protections of Roe when Congress passes a bill to do so, and Donald Trump and JD Vance, who will enact their dangerous Project 2025 agenda to ban abortion nationwide, restrict access to birth control, force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions, and jeopardize access to IVF.”
After kicking off in in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 3, the bus tour has been making at least 50 stops in key states like Michigan, where stops include blue and red communities Madison Heights, Flint, Ann Arbor, Lansing, Grand Rapids and Marquette.
Abortion rights and IVF took center stage at the recent presidential debate, with Harris saying she would restore reproductive freedom nationwide and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump refusing to say he would veto a national abortion ban if reelected.
The Scandal reunion follows actors and activists Washington and Goldwyn reuniting at the Democratic National Convention, where they were among the lineup of nightly Hollywood hosts and surprised with an onstage appearance together. 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 the Shonda Rhimes hit ABC political drama that ran for seven seasons. In 2015, the series aired a groundbreaking abortion episode that changed the narrative around the topic for broadcast TV. The episode took on legislation looking to defund Planned Parenthood and featured Olivia (Washington) having an abortion, the baby more than likely belonging to Fitz (Goldwyn), Scandal‘s Republican U.S. President.
“I don’t think abortion had ever been presented as an emancipated woman’s option before,” Young previously told THR in an oral history, where Rhimes revealed the battle she had with ABC to keep the storyline.
Washington, who also hosted a night of 2020’s DNC, which took place on Zoom, recently told THR of her involvement in the 2024 election, “This isn’t just about candidates and election cycles. It’s about building a future where everyone understands their voice and their power within our democracy.”
