Fans of “Scandal” have never had a problem sharing their passion over the hit ABC series – for better or worse.
Unfortunately for Scott Foley, the romantic interlude between his character, Capt. Jake Ballard, and Kerry Washington’s Olivia Pope in Season 2 hasn’t necessarily brought out the softest side of the “Gladiators,” especially on Twitter.
“I’m a big Olitz fan! I think Fitz and Olivia are a great couple together,” Scott grinned, referencing the name fans have bestowed upon the show’s seminal couple – President Fitzgerald Grant (Tony Goldwyn) and Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington).
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But while Scott may not want to get in the way of Olivia and Fitz, his character has feelings of his own for Olivia – prompting quite a rush of negative comments from “Scandal” fans.
“I don’t get that!” Kit Hoover told Scott on Monday’s Access Hollywood Live, of the negative Tweets Scott has been inundated with over his “Scandal” character’s efforts to break up “Olitz.” “I love [Jake] with Olivia too! I don’t feel that angst, as a woman – I like it. You’re looking out for her!… I don’t get the haters. It never occurred to me.”
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“It didn’t occur to me either until my Twitter account blew up with hate,” Scott laughed.
“Twitter is an interesting beast, isn’t it? The fans are very passionate about this show, specifically about the relationship between Olivia and Fitz and my character has a tendency to get in the way of that love between those two characters,” the actor continued. “Jake is a somewhat of a polarizing character – you either appreciate him or you just want him nowhere on your screen.”
Of course, “Scandal” isn’t the first time Scott has found himself playing a character interjected into a TV three-way – as fans of “Felicity” know as well.
“Every time I find myself in a love triangle, I find myself at the bottom of the geometric shape [looking up]. It doesn’t quite work out well for me,” he said. “But you never know what’s going to happen with this one. I think the story has yet to be written.”
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Attempts to interfere in the torrid “Olitz” affair aside, Scott also drew the ire of the “Scandal” faithful over an Emmy night Tweet following Kerry’s loss in the Best Leading Actress category, which he explained to Kit and guest co-host Alfonso Ribeiro.
“So Kerry Washington was nominated – as she should’ve been – for an Emmy and I was really rooting for her. Halfway through the day, I wrote something on Twitter along the lines of ‘Beginning the fingers crossed portion of my day,’ meaning I was really hoping she wins,” Scott explained. “And we all got together – the cast got together at [co-star] Jeff Perry’s house and we watched the Emmys and we were all pulling for her, and when she didn’t win, the air went out of the room. Because we were sure she was going to win. She was the favorite.
“So I Tweeted, ‘Congrats to…wait…oh. Bummer,’” he noted.
“What’s wrong with that?” Kit asked.
“Absolutely nothing! It shows that I was expecting her to win and I was disappointed that she didn’t,” Scott said. “And then Twitter blew up.”
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So how does the actor deal with angry social media comments fired in his direction?
“Well I retweet a lot of these things because I feel it’s a public forum. So if you’re going to send it to me, I’m going to show it to my 70,000 followers,” he concluded.
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