Who are Kerry Washington's parents? Nationality and Jamaican heritage explored amid 'Finding Your Roots' revelation

Actress Kerry Washington of Scandal fame recently sat for interviews with the New York Times and People, ahead of the launch of her upcoming memoir Thicker Than Water. Scheduled to release on September 26, the book is all about Kerry Washington’s educational and career journey. Alongside that, it also explores certain difficult topics, including mental health, depression, eating disorders, insomnia, and how her father is not her biological parent.

Washington told the New York Times how she often had the feeling of “not quite belonging” to her family, and how the research for her memoir led her to discover that she was conceived with the help of a sperm donor, and her family kept it a “long-hidden secret” from her.

Not only that, but Kerry told the news outlet how her decision to dig deeper into her lineage came after she met with Henry Louis Gates Jr., the host of the PBS series Finding Your Roots.

In fact, it was Gates who helped her find out from her parents Valerie Washington and Earl Washington that she wasn’t biologically related to the latter (her father), but only shared a Jamaican heritage from her mother’s side.

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Kerry Washington is not the biological daughter of her father, Earl Washington

Kerry Washington was the lead actress in the ABC drama series, Scandal, which ran from 2012 to 2018 for seven seasons. There, she played the role of crisis management expert Olivia Pope and gained wide recognition.

As per the Hollywood Reporter, after wrapping up the show in 2018, she came across Henry Louis Gates Jr., the host of a documentary TV series on PBS called Finding Your Roots.

It was then that she decided to find out more about her own lineage as she often felt disconnected from her family, especially her father. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that she is not the biological daughter of her father Earl Washington, a realtor, but was conceived through a sperm donor.

Recently, during two interviews with the New York Times and People, while talking about her new memoir Thicker Than Water, Kerry Washington went on record to say that the man she has known to be her father for so long, was not her biological parent.

She told the New York Times how she went to collect DNA samples from her parents and noticed clear hesitation on their part.

“I said, ‘I just don’t think they’re going to agree to it. My dad’s really uncomfortable.’,” she recalled saying to Gates.

Kerry Washington also reminisced how it was Gates who went to have a private conversation with her parents in the spring of 2018 to know more about her roots and found out that they feared that the actress not being her father’s biological kid might “come up in the testing.”

Not only that, but her parents also informed Gates that they were unwilling to have any conversation with Kerry about the nature of her lineage, while they were alive. The talk happened when Kerry decided to be a part of Gates’ show.

“I’ve always had this weird disconnect with my dad, but I thought that was my fault. I thought I wasn’t a kind enough person. But the idea that I was not his never occurred to me.”

Kerry Washington further added how she felt that she was not enough for her father, which is why they were not as close as she wished them to be, and thus constantly thought something was wrong with her.

The Emmy winner also told People that once she got to know the truth, she had mixed feelings and was both liberated and excited, all while feeling guilty and resentful as she could see how painful it was for her parents, especially her father.

She even noted how not knowing about her roots and the feelings of not belonging resulted in her anxiety, depression, lack of self-esteem, and even eating disorders.

“I think that dissonance of like, ‘Somebody is not telling me something about my body’ made me feel like there was something in my body I had to fix,” she stated to People.

Kerry also told the media outlet how her mother had planned to leave behind a note explaining her lineage in a safety deposit box, which she only was to open after both her parents were gone.

The Confirmation star also told People how she felt that she was “birthed into a lie” and was playing “a supporting character in my parents’ story.” She also added how she was aware that their intention was to protect, love, and care for her, but also felt disappointed that they kept the truth away from her even after she turned an adult, for over two decades now.

Kerry Washington further continued by telling the New York Times that despite her best efforts, she has been unable to identify her biological father so far. She added how she was grateful to Gates for helping her through the entire journey and how mentioning it all in her memoir was a difficult thing to do, as it hurt her parents deeply and turned her world “upside down.”

“I’m still missing this piece of not knowing where half of my biology comes from. At least I don’t have any of the wrong pieces in the puzzle anymore,” she stated.

Kerry also said that apart from Gates, it was her Scandal director Shonda Rhimes who was one of the first people who encouraged her to find out about her lineage.

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As per jamaicans.com, Kerry Washington was born on January 31, 1977, in the Bronx, New York, to Valerie Washington, a professor, and an educational counselor, and Earl Washington, a real estate broker. While Valerie’s ancestry is a blend of English, Scottish, and Native American, she primarily had her roots in Jamaica, but later migrated to Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Earl’s family was of African-American origin, who were once natives of South Carolina but later moved to Brooklyn. Since she was born in New York, Kerry Washington is an American national by law.