Y&R Stars Sound Off On Eric Braeden's Contract Dispute

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Adrienne Frantz is my new best friend.

EB, IT AIN'T ALL ABOUT YOU!

sounds like Adrienne Frantz was the only one with balls to say what she thinks. LOVE HER!!!!

i know things are bad on soaps now, but EB screwed himself with his superior attitude and pompous antics. even in the face of being let go, he acts like he can't believe they dared to get rid of him. newsflash...you have been very lucky to have a high-paying job all these years, and no one is above losing their job -- especially in this economy.

EVERYONE has to take cuts including veterans. It sucks but it's reflective of how the economy is and the fact that soaps are pretty much dying.

I take back all the jokes I ever made about her voice.

Oh love Adrienne!!!! She isn't holding back. If you aren't a team player and think that you are so special and deserve better then walk.

Adrienne, YOU ROCK!!!!

Team Adrienne! Yea, just say it. You mine as well.

TEAM ERIC BRAEDEN ALL THE WAY!!!

AF sounds like a total bitch.

If she's so into openness and honesty, why didn't she directly attack Eric Braeden instead of dancing around him?

I don't admire statements from people like this -- especially coming from an actress Y&R can do without.

Frantz is a team player???? I don't think so.

Can the soap stars strike?

Don't they belong to the actors guild there union?

I just can't believe the way soaps are treated, don't think there going to be around much longer.

Adrienne Frantz is love.

dude adrienne frantz rocks! at least someone on that cast has the cajones to speak their mind. EB isn't the single most important actor on Y&R and although it's a blow to the show, the show will survive

While I can appreciate Adrienne Frantz's comments, and I can definitely appreciate the economic situation that daytime is in right now, I wanna take a minute to stick up for the actors here, including Eric Braeden. (Despite the fact that I HATE the character of Victor Newman...and by the way, folks, let's remember to separate the actor from their character...)

Anyway, while I'd hate to see my shows without Melody Thomas Scott, Jess Walton, or Eric Braeden, and I was definitely in favor of contact terms that would keep them on the show, as a person who's not self-employed myself, I completely understand where they were coming from. In much the same way, I cheered for Kim Zimmer years ago (2006, I think) when she told TIIC at Guiding Light that she would re-negotiate her contract only when her current contract expired, and that if they didn't want to honor her current contract, they would have to fire her.

Think, for just one minute, how you would feel if your employer came to you tomorrow morning and said, we'd like to cut your pay by ___%.....would you just go along with it, or would you resist and insist that your boss(es) honor the agreement you'd already made. I hardly think it's unreasonable to insist that a contractual agreement be honored. Now, when that contract expires, and it's time to renew and re-negotiate, that's another story. As a person who signs an annual contract for my job, I'm telling you that I'd put up a serious fight and be on the phone with my union rep if my boss tried to cut my pay 8 months before my contract expired....I don't think it makes you "against the team" to insist that your rights as an employee be respected.

Let's not forget folks, everybody's got bills to pay, and these actors have a job to do same as you and I.....

So because she's saying paycuts are necessary and those who don't want to take them, should leave if they decide to Frantz is a bitch? ok.................

Think, for just one minute, how you would feel if your employer came to you tomorrow morning and said, we'd like to cut your pay by ___%.....

People keep on bringing that up but in reality people aren't being asked to take pay cuts. They're being FIRED!

Everyone needs to STOP COMPARING *normal people* to SOAP STARS. It's not the same thing! If my boss came to me and wanted to slash my salary by say 35% it would financially destroy me. I'd have to move, sell things, file for bankruptcy. But for VETS like EB who have been making millions for years and years they'd have to (gasp!!) tighten their belts like the rest of us, crunch the numbers, maybe let a maid go and sell a few of their cars. Boo freaking hoo.

And it bears repeating (and repeating and REPEATING) that EB SIGNED a contract stating that every 26 weeks his salary could be RENEGOTIATED. This means IT COULD BE CUT. If EB did not want to take that risk, he should have refused to sign it two years ago, said, "hey wait--get this clause out of my contract--I'm taking a cut NOW." But because he thinks his alter-ego "IS" Y&R, he chose to sign it.

Adrienne, isn't afraid of Eric. Of course she knows he is going back to Y&R. Eric is so full of shit. He is just walking around hoping to find any media person who will listen to his sorry ass story. Kudos to Adrienne, she definitely got more back bone than I thought.

Adrienne Frantz CHAPTERED it!!! Go ahead Adrienne speak your mind. It's your right! I can't believe people calling homegirl a bitch. For what? Having the BALLS to speak out and put Eric Braeden out on front street for his whining. Yeah I said, whining! This guy is no team player and cares only about himself. This is not The Eric Braeden Show, it's THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS!!! It's an ensemble. As much as Braeden thinks his $hit don't stink, CBS called his bluff and said deuces. If Robin Strasser can take one for the team, why can't Braeden? I'm just saying!

Everyone needs to STOP COMPARING *normal people* to SOAP STARS. It's not the same thing! If my boss came to me and wanted to slash my salary by say 35% it would financially destroy me. I'd have to move, sell things, file for bankruptcy. But for VETS like EB who have been making millions for years and years they'd have to (gasp!!) tighten their belts like the rest of us, crunch the numbers, maybe let a maid go and sell a few of their cars. Boo freaking hoo.

And it bears repeating (and repeating and REPEATING) that EB SIGNED a contract stating that every 26 weeks his salary could be RENEGOTIATED. This means IT COULD BE CUT. If EB did not want to take that risk, he should have refused to sign it two years ago, said, "hey wait--get this clause out of my contract--I'm taking a cut NOW." But because he thinks his alter-ego "IS" Y&R, he chose to sign it.

That's right Preach it!!!!
Because some people dont know that soap characters are fictional and nothing else.
If Eric didn't like what his contract said two years ago, he should have told his lawyer to fix the problem.
Look at this way, Eric is on a PAID vacation while the rest of us is sitting here arguing whether he is worth his two million dollar salary package. The man is probably in Monte Carlo sipping on exotic brandies and laughing at us.

Ok I know I am in the minority with supporting EB with his stance or whatever it is LOL, but has anyone questioned what's going on at Y&R? It seems like every VET that comes up for contract renewal has had some crazy negotiations. Jess Walton, Melody Thomas Scott, Michelle Stafford (speculating), and Eric Braeden each one has had intense contract negotiations and it just seems odd to me that this keeps coming up with every vet. It's becoming more like which VET is next in line for us to see is being recast or written out for refusing to take a paycut.

I was listening to the We Love Soaps podcast and one of the guys mentioned that and got me thinking.

I'm personally just tired of all these crazy contract negotiations. It's very distracting from the show.

That's not true. People are being asked to take pay cuts and work 20- or 30-hour weeks.

I understand where you're coming from, Freerhythm. And not only are you being asked to take the cut, some douche who was hired a couple of years ago (Frantz)is telling you to put up or shut up.

I don't think any of us would act the way we are saying EB should act. Work at a job for 30 years and be approached the way he was approached after he was the first to take a pay up.

I really have sympathy for EB and anyone who has been forced out or forced to take huge cuts or have their hours slashed to save a company's bottom line. We should have sympathy for these hardworking men and women across all industries.

I'm being honest. If my job told me to take a huge cut, I would be livid, too. I would be hurt. I would feel as if my nearly 30 years of service meant nothing. I think most people would.

Smitty, all the cuts have come post CBS slashing the licensing fee. The cuts had to be dramatic, in order for them to keep the show viable. DAYS went through the same thing, when NBC slashed their budget, only Corday's contingency plan was simply to fire his vets. All things considered, I believe Sony offering pay cuts to all the cast of Y&R is much more fair and sensible. Just my opinion.
 

I believe the comparison is valid -- comparing soap stars being asked to take cuts vs. us, the regular Joes. They have bills, too. They have agents to pay, mortgages, TAXES, etc. Are they paid more? Certainly. Do they have bigger bills than us? Certainly. But, it's the human element of putting yourself in someone else's shoes.

Let's say you were EB. You would be ticked off, too. Jess Walton was. So was MTS. All walked away while deals were being shot back and forth. More than likely, none of us would take the first offer, sign on the dotted line and smile about it.

Adrienne Frantz, you're the greatest! Sorry to say this, but given the current situation of soaps, it's not about who's right to feel better than the other anymore. It's about the survival of the whole genre.

People are being asked to take pay cuts and work 20- or 30-hour weeks.

Do you think they're giving as much time as Eric Braeden is getting to mull it over?

Jamey I have only been following this a bit here and there since I dont watch Y&R. Question for you - were the cuts done as a percentage across the board? In other words - okay folks to save the show we are asking EVERYONE to take a 10% cut - management, actors, production crew etc. or did some get bigger cuts than others? If it was across the board, then yes to me that would seem for like a "being a team player" kind of issue. JMHO but I cant fault someone for wanting to be paid what they believe they are worth in the market place any more than I can fault a company for offering to pay on what they believe they can afford. I really dont see a villain in this scenario, but maybe I missed something here. The one part I do think is rotten is that this is playing out in the press. EB should be quiet.

season1217, the publisher of a paper I used to work for is still in negotiations with the parent company regarding hours worked per week concerning himself and his entire staff. That has been going on for two months.

"Let's say you were EB. You would be ticked off, too. Jess Walton was. So was MTS. All walked away while deals were being shot back and forth. More than likely, none of us would take the first offer, sign on the dotted line and smile about it."

And we'd all be looking somewhere else for a job -- because no one is that important, so all these so-called stars oughta think about that.

I may be wrong but I don't think that EB's contract can be re-negotiated every 26 weeks (I don't think either side would want to open the ENTIRE contract up so often) I believe it is only his rate that can be negotiated that often.

I would be willing to bet that in any of his 29 years on the show (even when there was a lot of money and ratings, etc.) the brass would have seriously considered a re-negotiation if had asked for a raise. He would likely have been told to wait until the end of the full contract.

I agree w/them both. Adrianne is right on the money w/her comments and Eric has every right to be pissed and walk since they (whoever Sony CBS I don't know) decided to use a faulty clause (blame that on ATRA) in his contract to ask him to take a pay cut. Yes I think he should take it b/c soaps are a dying form (it's really not but the ppl at top make that the case), but to be honest I think honoring a contract means more. Yes that will get me bashed here, but whatever. And plus as much as I like Adrienne's comments she and a whole bunch of other cast members can be cut in order to make room so this won't be happening to the vets. Just saying.

I agree w/them both. Adrianne is right on the money w/her comments and Eric has every right to be pissed and walk since they (whoever Sony CBS I don't know) decided to use a faulty clause (blame that on ATRA) in his contract to ask him to take a pay cut. Yes I think he should take it b/c soaps are a dying form (it's really not but the ppl at top make that the case), but to be honest I think honoring a contract means more. Yes that will get me bashed here, but whatever. And plus as much as I like Adrienne's comments she and a whole bunch of other cast members can be cut in order to make room so this won't be happening to the vets. Just saying.