--- description: Thursday night's episode referenced Sheryl Sandberg's "Lean In" in a truly malevolent manner title: Sorry, Sheryl: "Scandal" made an incredibly insidious "Lean In" reference in its latest episode image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ca2cd92c47f99/69868565810bbb49e1c907a9/screen-shot-2014-03-14-at-12-54-54-am.png?branch=production&width=828&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Sorry, Sheryl: _Scandal_ Just Made an Evil _Lean In_ Reference by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2014 4:03 AM CUT  ABC by [Laura Stampler](/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 4, 2014 4:03 AM CUT _Warning: Minor spoilers for most recent episode of ABC’s Scandal_ Based on her [Facebook musings](https://www.facebook.com/sheryl/posts/10153477998840177 "undefined"), Sheryl Sandberg is quite the fan of ABC’s _Scandal_. With a strong female lead like Olivia Pope, how could she not be? So we wonder what the Facebook COO thought of Thursday night’s episode, which referenced _Lean In_ in the most malevolent manner. This season features a very skilled and very lethal network of lady terrorists, headed by Pope’s evil mother, Marie Wallace. When one of Pope’s employees tries to convince a lady terrorist who is lower on the totem pole to turn on her mass murder-causing boss, here’s what he gets as a response: --- > “” --- Someone has been doing her reading. While it is admirable to advocate for oneself in the workplace and value the power of mentorship, this probably isn’t what Sandberg had in mind. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/49364/scandal-lean-in-sheryl-sandberg/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/49364/scandal-lean-in-sheryl-sandberg/"},"headline":"Sorry, Sheryl: Scandal Just Made an Evil Lean In Reference","datePublished":"2014-04-04T04:03:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:55:06.116Z","description":"Apparently lady terrorists are all about \"Leaning In.\" Wonder what the Facebook COO makes of that","url":"https://time.com/49364/scandal-lean-in-sheryl-sandberg/","keywords":["Living","Television","Sheryl Sandberg","facebook","Scandal","Lean In","abc","shonda rhimes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ca2cd92c47f99/69868565810bbb49e1c907a9/screen-shot-2014-03-14-at-12-54-54-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Laura Stampler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt320ca2cd92c47f99/69868565810bbb49e1c907a9/screen-shot-2014-03-14-at-12-54-54-am.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Scandal ABC Kerry Washington","caption":"","creditText":"ABC","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":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/49364/scandal-lean-in-sheryl-sandberg/","name":"Sorry, Sheryl: Scandal Just Made an Evil Lean In Reference"}}]}] ```