At the table read for the pilot, Shonda Rhimes told Bellamy Young that her arc on the show would only consist of four to five episodes before Young's character would be written off.
Costume designer Lyn Paolo refused to borrow any designer clothes from fashion designers and insisted that each item worn by the characters be bought since the show frequently employs flashbacks and items are constantly reused.
The character Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) and her "fixer" firm are modeled on the real-life self-dubbed "crisis management expert" Judy Smith. As an independent fixer, Smith has helped repair or restore the reputations of such scandal-mired celebrities as Monica Lewinsky, Kanye West, Gen. David Petraeus, Michael Vick, and Rob Lowe, but before that, she worked in the G. H. W. Bush administration's White House as Deputy Press Secretary and played a large role in countering Anita Hill's claims of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas in the media. In 2016, Scandal star Kerry Washington played Anita Hill in the TV movie Confirmation, and Judy Smith was depicted in that movie by actress Kristen Ariza.
Katie Lowes had worked as a babysitter to supplement her income in between guest spots on TV shows. When Shonda Rhimes made her a regular, she told her she wouldn't have to babysit anymore.