'Bunheads' Amy Sherman-Palladino responds to Shonda Rhimes' Twitter criticism

Published on June 17, 2012 11:00PM EDT

Bunheads creator Amy Sherman-Palladino has responded to a tweet from Grey’s Anatomy boss Shonda Rhimes that criticized the lack of diversity on the new ABC Family show.

“Look, I’m not going to get into a pissing match with Shonda Rhimes, because she has 15,000 shows on the air, and she’s doing just fine for herself,” the former Gilmore Girls creator told Media Mayhem in an interview posted on YouTube. “[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.”

Last week, Rhimes took to her Twitter account to comment on the show’s casting choices, saying, “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, who says she has never met Rhimes before, went on to say that with the increased demands on showrunners — particularly while getting a new program on the air — there’s no room for criticism among peers. “I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t go after another woman. I, frankly, wouldn’t go after another showrunner,” she said.

Palladino didn’t directly comment on the diversity issue, but indicated that any shortcomings were at least in part a result of lack of time and casting limitations. “It is so hard to get a show on the air, [because of] what you have to do and the layers of bulls–t and fighting and scraping — and particularly this show because our budget was very small and our demands were so high.”

Watch more of the interview below.