Shonda Rhimes and ABC Thursday night stars stump for Hillary Clinton in new ad

Shonda Rhimes, creator of ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” and executive producer of “How to Get Away with Murder” got political Thursday night when she and stars of the three hit dramas banded together to share public support for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

In a political ad directed by Tony Goldwyn (“Scandal”), Rhimes and actresses Viola Davis (“HTGAWM”), Ellen Pompeo (“Grey’s Anatomy”) and Kerry Washington (“Scandal”) discuss creating and portraying “brilliant, complex, overqualified, get-it-done” women and the real-life equivalent found in Clinton.

The women, speaking directly to the camera, call Clinton a “bona fide, rolls-up-her-sleeves, fights-for-what’s-right, in-it-for-you, won’t-back-down, champion for all of us” before individually repeating Clinton’s campaign slogan, “I’m with her.”

Rhimes teased the release of the video on her Twitter feed early in the evening and later exchanged grateful tweets with the candidate.

The ad is not the first time Rhimes and various Shondaland cast members have stumped for the former secretary of State. Rhimes appeared alongside other prominent Hollywood women in a February video made by Lena Dunham supporting the candidate, and Goldwyn campaigned for Clinton before the Nevada primary in February.

Clinton also made a much publicized stop by the “Scandal” set several weeks ago, with several members of the cast sharing Instagram images of her visit.

Wow! Look who stopped by the set of #Scandal tonight! ¿¿¿¿

A photo posted by Darby Stanchfield (@darbysofficial) on Feb 22, 2016 at 10:14pm PST

#ImWithHer. Literally. She was right there! @HillaryClinton, thanks for visiting! ¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿

A photo posted by Katie Lowes (@ktqlowes) on Feb 23, 2016 at 8:17am PST

So, this happened while I was directing tonight. No big deal. #imwithher

A photo posted by Scott Foley (@scottkfoley) on Feb 22, 2016 at 8:40pm PST

#imwithher

A photo posted by Kerry Washington (@kerrywashington) on Feb 22, 2016 at 10:27pm PST

Support for other presidential candidates is prevalent as well in Hollywood, with rapper Azealia Banks and actress Kirstie Alley speaking out in favor of Republican candidate Donald Trump and comedians Sarah Silverman, Patton Oswalt and Will Ferrell hosting a fundraiser for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders in January.

While the ad for Clinton may be the highest profile endeavor so far, airing on a number of stations as a paid political advertisement on a night when ABC averaged over 6 million viewers, the exposure was still trumped by the 12th Republican debate, also held Thursday night, which drew nearly 12 million viewers on CNN.

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