--- title: Jesse Williams Supported With BET Speech Petitions description: The people petitioning ABC to support Jesse Williams outweigh the number of people who want him fired from Grey's Anatomy. canonical: https://time.com/4393379/jesse-williams-petition-bet-speech-shonda-rhimes/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-05T17:36:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:34:02.674Z og:title: Thousands Sign Petitions Supporting Jesse Williams' After BET Speech og:description: "Now is the time for us to stand for Jesse" og:url: https://time.com/4393379/jesse-williams-petition-bet-speech-shonda-rhimes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4941d37be01ba0c9/698899cb0a4a2255ae9ca438/jesse-williams-bet-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 2016 BET Awards - Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Thousands Sign Petitions Supporting Jesse Williams' After BET Speech twitter:description: "Now is the time for us to stand for Jesse" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4941d37be01ba0c9/698899cb0a4a2255ae9ca438/jesse-williams-bet-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Thousands Sign Petitions to ABC Supporting Jesse Williams After _BET_ Speech > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=b6bb49b2-6336-4981-9d0e-eaf5a9a0e065&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jul 5, 2016 5:36 PM UTC  Honoree Jesse Williams accepts the Humanitarian Award onstage during the 2016 BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on June 26 in Los Angeles, California. Honoree Jesse Williams accepts the Humanitarian Award onstage during the 2016 BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on June 26 in Los Angeles, California. Kevin Winter—BET/Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Jul 5, 2016 5:36 PM UTC The supporters for _Grey’s Anatomy_ actor Jesse Williams on Change.org far outnumber the [critics](http://time.com/4393095/shonda-rhimes-jesse-williams-bet-speech-greys-anatomy/?iid=sr-link1) who want him axed from the show after his [powerful BET speech](http://time.com/4383516/jesse-williams-bet-speech-transcript/?iid=sr-link1), as of Tuesday afternoon. Here’s a quick recap: When the Grey’s Anatomy actor won BET’s Humanitarian Award in June, he used it to deliver an impactful message concerning justice and the power of people of color in the arts. More than a week after it aired, the viral speech is still generating heated conversation online. Over the weekend, Erin Smith created a petition on Change.org urging ABC to fire Williams, writing that his politically-minded speech was “a racist, hate speech against law enforcement and white people.” _Grey’s Anatomy’s_ creator Shonda Rhimes [addressed](http://time.com/4393095/shonda-rhimes-jesse-williams-bet-speech-greys-anatomy/?iid=sr-link1) it with a few words in support for Williams on Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/shondarhimes/status/750121134234832896) Smith’s petition, which had 6,960 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon, also galvanized other Williams supporters to start petitions of their own, which have proven far more popular than the original. The 14 pro-Williams petitions, which together have gathered 35,236 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon, urge ABC to keep Williams and demand a public statement of support from the channel. The most popular [petition](https://www.change.org/p/shonda-rhimes-don-t-let-the-racists-win-grey-s-anatomy-don-t-fire-jesse-williams), which Dawn Murphy created, had 20,546 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon. It’s not only about keeping Williams’ [portrayal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHyHbB7N-4Y) of the character, but also calls for ABC and Shonda Rhimes to publicly align with Williams stating, “now is the time for us to stand for Jesse and petition Shonda Rhimes and the other decision makers at “Grey’s Anatomy” and ABC to support this brave leader, not just by not firing him or in any way diminishing his role or pushing out, but by openly standing with him and speaking against hate in any form.” Rhimes has both tweeted in support of Williams and retweeted the actor potentially alluding to the situation. > [](https://twitter.com/iJesseWilliams/status/749725227634995200) A spokesperson for _Grey’s Anatomy_ at ABC declined to comment on this story. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4393379/jesse-williams-petition-bet-speech-shonda-rhimes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4393379/jesse-williams-petition-bet-speech-shonda-rhimes/"},"headline":"Thousands Sign Petitions to ABC Supporting Jesse Williams After BET Speech","datePublished":"2016-07-05T17:36:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:34:02.674Z","description":"35,236 signatures for Williams vs. 6,960 against","url":"https://time.com/4393379/jesse-williams-petition-bet-speech-shonda-rhimes/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","abc","Grey's Anatomy","shonda rhimes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4941d37be01ba0c9/698899cb0a4a2255ae9ca438/jesse-williams-bet-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4941d37be01ba0c9/698899cb0a4a2255ae9ca438/jesse-williams-bet-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2016 BET Awards - Show","caption":"2016 BET Awards - Show","creditText":"Kevin Winter—BET/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4393379/jesse-williams-petition-bet-speech-shonda-rhimes/","name":"Thousands Sign Petitions to ABC Supporting Jesse Williams After BET Speech"}}]}] ```