meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
We Can Do Hard Things

247. Kerry Washington on the Family Secret that Shaped Her

We Can Do Hard Things

Glennon Doyle & Audacy

Society & Culture, Relationships, Education, Self-improvement

4.841.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 October 2023

⏱️ 65 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Kerry Washington shares the deeply personal story of what happened when her parents finally told her the truth about a long-held and shocking family secret: How uncovering the truth – as painful as it was – led Kerry to reclaim her self trust; How the revelation made her the lead character of her own life for the first time; Walking the line between protection and deception; Breaking the cycle of gaslighting within families; and How defying her father freed both of them. About Kerry: Kerry Washington is an Emmy-winning, SAG, and Golden Globe-nominated actor, director, producer, and activist. Washington received widespread recognition for her role as Olivia Pope in the hit drama Scandal. In 2016, Washington launched her production company Simpson Street, whose projects include Confirmation, “American Son”, Emmy award-winning, “Live in Front of a Studio Audience”, The Fight, and Little Fires Everywhere. Washington is a lifelong activist and founder of Influence Change (IC21), an initiative that partners with nonprofits to increase voter turnout. For her efforts, Washington has been honored as one of TIME Magazine’s 2022 Women of The Year. Washington released her first memoir, Thicker Than Water, which is on sale now! TW: @kerrywashington IG: @kerrywashington To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome back to We Can Do Hard Things. We are going to waste no time today because we

0:12.1

have one of my favorite people in all of the land. And her name is Carrie Washington.

0:18.4

Carrie Washington is an Emmy-winning, SAG and Golden Globe nominated actor, director,

0:23.7

producer, and activist. She received widespread recognition for her role as Olivia Pope in

0:29.1

the hit drama scandal. In 2016, Washington launched her production company Simpson Street whose projects

0:35.4

include confirmation, American Sun, Emmy award-winning live in front of a studio audience, the fight,

0:41.9

and little fires everywhere. Washington is a lifelong activist and founder of Influence Change,

0:47.8

IC-21. She has been honored as one of Time Magazine's 2022 Women of the Year. She has just released

0:56.9

her memoir thicker than water and it's on sale now. Pod Squad, during this interview, you're going

1:03.1

to hear us talking a lot about a family secret that was revealed to Carrie just recently in her

1:10.0

life. And we're not going to tell you exactly what that secret is because it's a spoiler for the

1:14.6

whole book. And we really don't want to ruin the story for you. And also, it doesn't really matter

1:20.7

because when you hear us talk about Carrie's family secret, just know we're talking about every

1:25.8

family secret that every family has ever had. Okay, enjoy. Carrie, Washington, I've been

1:34.3

really looking forward to this hour for a very, very long time. Yes. Me too. I love you. I love you.

1:43.2

Haven't gotten to spend a ton of time with you, but I feel so connected to you. You're one of

1:49.2

the few people that no matter what they're doing. I'm like, okay, yes, I'll do whatever she's doing.

1:56.8

I trust you so deeply. I just wanted to ask you a quick question that I thought of this morning,

2:03.2

which is, did you see me fall down the stairs at Tracy Ellis Ross's first? No. No.

2:10.7

Did you really not? I missed that. Was it before dinner or after dinner? Oh my god, Carrie,

2:17.2

it was before dinner. And I fell down the stairs like completely like my shoes flew, my purse flew,

2:23.1

my dress was up my ass in front of Diana Ross. Okay. This morning, I thought, I wonder if she

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Glennon Doyle & Audacy, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Glennon Doyle & Audacy and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.