Wednesday 4:09 p.m.: CBS has responded to Rowell's lawsuit, telling TheWrap in a
statement that the suit has "no merit" and that they will
"vigorously defend" the case.
"We were disappointed to learn
that, after leaving the cast of "The Young and the Restless" on her
own initiative, Ms. Rowell has attempted to rewrite that history through
lawyers' letters and a lawsuit that has no merit. We harbor no ill will
toward Ms. Rowell, but we will vigorously defend this case," CBS said.
"The Young and the Restless" may be
done with Drucilla, but the actress who played her isn't done with the show. At
least from a legal standpoint.
Victoria Rowell, who played Drucilla
Barber Walters on the daytime soap, has filed suit against CBS and Sony
Pictures, claiming that she wasn't re-hired in retaliation for her "public
and private complaints regarding the lack of diversity in front of and behind
the camera on the show."
Rowell, who joined "Y&R"
in 1990, claims she "reluctantly left the show in 2007 after facing years
of racial discrimination" and sought to either return to the soap or join
its sister series "The Bold and the Beautiful," beginning in
2010. However, according to a press release issued Wednesday, her requests have
been denied "by those in charge of hiring at Sony and at Bell-Phillip
Television Production Inc., with CBS's CEO allegedly pulling their
strings."
The actress notably went off on a Twitter tirade
in March 2014, saying that the show has a distressing lack of African-Americans
in key positions.
"Young & Restless on air for 40
years, loyally watched by their absolute competitive-edge audience (blacks)
& not ONE black Exec PRODUCER?" Rowell tweeted at the time.
"ONE black writer in 40 years on a
program overwhelmingly watched by African Americans," she added.
Rowell is being represented by a number
of firms in the case, including Washington, DC-based Mehri & Skalet, PLLC,
New York City-based counsel Valli Kane and Vagnini LLP and California-based
lHadsell Stormer & Renick LLP.
Daytime Confidential broke news of Rowell's intentions to
sue earlier Wednesday.
News Credit: MSN
No comments:
Post a Comment