It's sadly official: Scandal will come to an end with its seventh season.
The decision was made in tandem by Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes and ABC president Channing Dungey, to fulfil Rhimes's original vision to end the show after seven years.
"I had conversions with Shonda Rhimes where she has had for a while a sense of how she wanted the story to end," Dungey told reporters at the Upfronts on Tuesday (May 16).
"She said, 'Look, I really feel like season seven is where I want to wrap up this story, because I always prefer to end a show where you're feeling on top as opposed to letting things fizzle out'."
The final season will be shortened in length, just as season six was chopped down by six episodes in order to account for star Kerry Washington's maternity leave.
News first broke about a possible end to Scandal last week, although ABC and Shonda Rhimes refused to comment until the Upfronts officially kicked off.
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In her own statement announcing the end of Scandal, Shonda Rhimes said today: "Deciding how to end a show is easy. Deciding when to finish is quite simple when the end date is years away. But actually going through with it? Actually standing up to say: 'This is it?' Not so much.
"So, next year we are going all out. Leaving nothing on the table. Creating this world in celebration. We are going to handle the end the way we like to handle the important things in our Scandal family: all together, white hats on, Gladiators running full speed over a cliff."
Scandal is currently a part of ABC's Thank God Its Thursday lineup of Shonda Rhimes dramas along with Grey's Anatomy and How to Get Away with Murder. All three were given early renewals in January.
The two-hour sixth-season finale of Scandal will air on Thursday (May 18) at 9pm ET on ABC in the US.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
