"Bunheads" creator responds to Shonda Rhimes' diversity criticism

From left, "Bunheads" stars Emma Dumont, Kaitlyn Jenkins, Sutton Foster, Bailey Buntain and Julia Goldani Telles.

/ ABC Family

(CBS News) "Bunheads" creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has responded to criticism from "Grey's Anatomy" boss Shonda Rhimes about her new show's lack of diversity.

Rhimes took to Twitter last week after the premiere of the ABC Family series, which is about a dance studio in a small town. She wrote, "Hey @abcfbunheads: really? You couldn't cast even ONE young dancer of color so I could feel good about my kid watching this show? NOT ONE?"

Sherman-Palladino countered in an interview with Media Mayhem, which was posted on YouTube.

"Look, I'm not going to get into a p------ match with Shonda Rhimes, because she has 15,000 shows on the air, and she's doing just fine for herself," she said. "[But] I've always felt that women, in a general sense, have never supported other women the way they should...I think it's a shame, but to me, it is what it is. Maybe they feel it's too competitive, I don't know."

"I wouldn't do it. I wouldn't go after another woman," she added. "I, frankly, wouldn't go after another showrunner."

Sherman-Palladino didn't directly address Rhimes' diversity comments, but did note that the budget for the series was small and, when it came time for casting, she "had to find four girls who could dance on point and who could also act - and they give you, like, a week and a half to do it. That's how pilots go."

Both women have noteworthy shows under their belts. Rhimes is the creator of "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice," while Sherman-Palladino created "Gilmore Girls."

[audemus]

The Hollywood establishment, ( and I'd certainly include Ms. Rhimes in that category...), have a way of inflicting their idealistic version of political correctness and societal norms on the rest of us. Believe it or not Shondra, not everyone has black friends or gay friends or brown or yellow or white friends...not everyone sees the world through your multi-racial lenses, that's the real reality of everyday life out here. Just because I come up with story lines that paint a picture the way I want it to be, or think it is, does not make it so.

[audemus]

pardon me....SHONDA.

[caljack430]

agreed. we can't expect every single show to be diversified. the world isn't that way and i'm sorry but it doesn't HAVE to be completely integrated in every aspect of society to be fine.