In a 2019 interview with the New York Times, the OITNB creator said, "I’m ready to be out of prison. It takes up a lot of psychological space, and it can be oppressive and difficult and depressing."

"But it was a privilege to do this show," she continued. "The people that came together to build it and inhabit it were remarkable, and the fact that we got to normalize diversity — it’s really hard to give that up. But seven years is a good run, and it was time."