In her film contracts, Scott negotiated “final-cut” privileges and typically provided her own wardrobe. She would also refuse to perform in Whites-only nightclubs, once stating that she would not do a show in a place where people that looked like her couldn’t enter the venue. Scott was also involved in a lawsuit in Pasco, Wash. where she and a companion sued a restaurant for refusing to serve them. She won the lawsuit, which sparked the signing of the Public Accommodations Act of 1953 in the state.
Scott’s radical nature would be her undoing. During the time of McCarthyism, American paranoia over communist ideology led to a blacklist of several prominent entertainers. Scott’s name was listed in a book called “The Red Channels: A Report on Communist Influence in Radio and Television.” She appeared before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), reading a statement where she denied any connections with communists. However, she acknowledged supporting a Communist Party member who was then running for City Council.
On September 29, 1950, a week after her statement, DuMont canceled her show. Scott continued to perform, and even appeared on other networks as a guest. However, she continued her vocal opposition to McCarthyism and racial segregation eventually moving to France to escape the racism and oppression she felt in America.
She returned to America in 1967, at one of the highest points of the civil rights movement. Scott then moved back to acting and made appearances on Diahann Carroll’s Julia television program, among other shows.
Scott’s first husband was New York congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Together they had a son, Adam Clayton Powell III.
Scott died of cancer at the age of 61 in 1981.
