Kerry Washington discovered that her father is not actually her biological parent, something that has rocked the actresses’ world.
The “Scandal” star learned that Earl Washington was not her father when she was gearing up to appear in the PBS series, “Finding Your Roots.” The show, which focuses on celebrities exploring their ancestral backgrounds, motivated Earl and her mother, Valerie, to break the news to Washington. According to them, they’d used an anonymous sperm donor to conceive her. The revelation may have surprised the 46-year-old, but she admitted to People that she’d always felt her parents were keeping something from her. Learning the truth in 2018 turned her life “upside down.”
“When I got this information, I was like, ‘Oh. I now know my story.’ I didn’t know what my story was, but I was playing the supporting character in their story,” she told the outlet.
Prior to Washington signing on to appear in “Finding Your Roots,” her parents had decided they would not tell her about using a sperm donor years ago. Still, with her sensing a mystery of some sort, Washington believes this may have contributed to her eating disorder.
Washington is now preparing to release her highly anticipated memoir, “Thicker Than Water,” which will explore more of her relationship with her family and the upbringing that helped mold her into the woman and Hollywood a-lister she is today. It’s unclear if she will set out to learn the identity of her biological father, though she seems content with simply knowing the facts.
“This is really kind of me working to understand my life up until now, given this new information that I have that, in many ways, felt like sort of the missing puzzle piece,” Washington shared.
“Thicker Than Water” will be available on bookshelves everywhere beginning September 26th.
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