Former Scandal actor Columbus Short is set to have a big night tonight. After a season finale featuring an ominous gunshot, his character is definitely, absolutely getting killed off of ABC’s hit series. The man doesn’t seem too bent out of shape after getting fired from Shonda Rhimes’ drama. Instead, he’s throwing a Scandal Season Premiere party at a club in Atlanta tonight in order to celebrate his imminent demise on the popular drama.
The club in question is the Boogalou Lounge in Atlanta Georgia. Short tipped fans off to his big event via Instagram, noting that he will also be celebrating the release of his brand new single “Gladiator” at the event. But mostly, he and his fans will be there to celebrate the man’s long-awaited death. Recently, the actor tipped his hat to his former character in a different way.
The news that Short is getting killed off might seem like a spoiler to casual or non-fans, but we’ve known Short was going to bite the dust for quite some time. The actor formerly played Olivia Pope's right-hand man Harrison Wright on the series. At the end of Season 3, Rhimes and company wrote an extremely compelling finale episode that left Wright’s fate in the hands of a man holding a gun to his head. Fans were left to question whether or not the character would be able to avoid a tragic fate, but the answer became clear to the writers well before the show went into production for Season 4.
Short is having a pretty poor year. In March, he was taken to jail after getting into a fight in a restaurant. Since then, he’s also been in and out of the courts, dealing with a divorce to his wife, Tuere Short, who filed after Short was charged with misdemeanor battery. Following the familial and legal troubles, the show decided to distance itself from Short and write him out of the upcoming season. Early rumors indicated the role might be recast, but that was quickly debunked. The good news is that Short handled being written out of the series gracefully.
Now, he’s ready to party it up and say good riddance to one of ABC’s most popular shows. If you want to join the celebration you can tune in to catch ABC's Scandal tonight at 9 p.m. ET. Additionally, if you need to brush up on your Scandal lingo or plot points, check out our look back at Season 3 here.
