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OLTL issues statement on end of Kish/GLAAD's response to ABC!

By Michael Fairman

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17 years ago

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The LGBT community is not taking kindly to the pull-out by ABC and One Life to Live of the Kish storyline featuring Brett Claywell and Scott Evans.  In a news item from Advocate.com, a One Life to Live spokesperson issued the following statement today, “The groundbreaking Kyle-Fish relationship on One Life to Live was embraced by fans both as a great story and a fair and honest reflection of the LGBT community. We’re glad their story resonated with the audience, and understand the fans’ disappointment now that it has concluded. The show has a history of bringing LGBT stories to the screen — earning two GLAAD awards in the process — as well as returning popular characters when they serve the ongoing story. These great characters remain in Llanview, and while there are no immediate plans to advance their story, the door is always open for their return.”
 
The statement comes after the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced Friday morning that it is lobbying ABC Daytime to review its decision to end the storyline. “Last summer One Live to Live brought a groundbreaking relationship into the homes of millions with Kyle and Fish’s story, one that build acceptance and understanding of gay people,” GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios said in a statement. He went on to say that ending the story is a step backward in the representation of gay Americans, even though plot changes and cancellations are common in daytime dramas.

 

“We remain disappointed that ABC Daytime has chosen to stop sharing this powerful story with viewers of One Life to Live. GLAAD will continue to advocate that in the near future producers and writers at ABC Daytime incorporate gay and transgendered characters in their programming.”

There have been rumors that One Life to Live was ending the gay story line because of low ratings and poor response to the characters.

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The same sex marriage aspect harming Kish should be addressed by the soap press when critiquing OLTL axing Kish. With a topic as splintering as same sex unions, it definitely hurt more that it helped Kish. Soaps are about escapism, not political debates. Even in someplace as stereotypically thought to be liberal like Manhattan, many people are not on board w/ same sex unions. And the ratings of a conservative news channel like Fox reflects that sentiment.

Accrdg to TVGCanada’s newest report, it was Frank Valentini who axed Kish. So no one go blame Brian Frons or say some homophobic group engineered their firing. It’ll be interesting how the soap press criticizes Valentini for this move, since OLTL seems to be the golden child of the soap press. Even in TVGC, the only critique for Valentini was a sarcastic “Thanks a lot” for Valentini axing Kish.

Goutman was raked through the coals consistently for mishandling Nuke and Ellen Wheeler was all but crucified numerous times for neglecting Otalia. But at least those 2 didn’t fire their same sex couple. Carlivati’s writing should be taken to task, but I think the closest criticism he’d get was TVG’s Michael Logan’s “gay overkill” comment. If this were Megan McTavish, imagine all the harsh reviews she’d get?

Also accrdg to TVGC, speculation is that one of the portrayers of Kish is a hard partying kinda guy. He’d hold up production, so he was axed. My bet goes to Evans, since he admitted to going to the gay bars frequently in the interview here, and anyone who’s been to a gay bar/club knows how out of control it can get, especially in Manhattan.

More from TVGC, speculation is that they are axing 8 actors bec of budgetary constraints but the most interesting speculation is that the Kish storyline hit too close to home for certain execs. Well Carlivati is out, so it can’t be him.

Onto that mess GLAAD, they gave the award to Nuke the year that Nuke was banished from kissing or showing any affection on ATWT! So GLAAD is a joke. And they’d be even more of a joke if they award it to Kish now that kish has been written off.

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All this blaming the actors thing is nonsense.

Scott Evans didn’t even have a contract so if they wanted to fire him for whatever reason, they could have done so without so much as a “See ya”.
They replace actors and actresses all the time (even long-time actors and actresses who have contracts).

If they were committed to these characters and their story, the producers would have simply recast or rewritten.

I’m not buying this “actor parties too hard ” crap for one second.

And if this is the reason he was fired, why fired both he AND Brett?

Why even make the statement about “not resonating with the mainstream”?

The “wedding” was like a month of the entire Fish coming out storyline and it was over by the period they claim was the problem area (November 09)

All of these latest excuses are just nonsense spin.

The primary viewership of soaps hasn’t being stay-at-home straight women for like 20 years. Teens, and gay men also make up a huge portion of the viewing audience (if they ever bothered to notice)

They cut KISH and fired Scott and Brett because they got scared and caved into the pressure of the right wing, conservative voices screaming in their ears. It’s a simple as that.

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Don’t kid yourself, Persa!

I am a “stay-at-home straight women”; I am also what a lot of people would consider a “right wing, conservative voice”.

That being said, hearing that KISH had been unceremoniously dumped was, for me, like a kick in the gut. I loved their story, and I was really looking forward to the (seemingly) upcoming custody battle story-line! I wanted to see KISH kick stupid GiGi’s Butt, in court, get their baby, and raise their little girl together!

I wanted to see this couple go through all of the trials, tribulations, pride, and joy of parenthood together! It would have been great to watch them cope with being a family, while also facing all of the inevitable prejudices that would have gone along with their relationship.

I, for one, am very, very sorry that we are losing these wonderful characters/actors – along with their ground-breaking story! I can only hope that the Network will, somehow, miraculously, reconsider their unfortunate decision and decide to give our KISH a last minute reprieve from their looming execution!

Oh, and for what it is worth, I have already sent off my letters and e-mails (first time ever doing this!) that fully detail my displeasure with this decision to all concerned parties!

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TVGC already reported that it was Frank Valentini who axed Claywell and untalented Evans, and they axed Crystal Hunt prior to them. They were not axed bec of so called pressure by a so called right wing grp. Why is everything homophobic for fans of Kish or Nuke? There’s no conspiracy theory against Crystal Hunt. She was let go bec people disliked Stacy, her acting is awful and she didn’t translate to ratings. The same applied to Kish. Since valentini axed them, complain to him instead of blaming these anonymous right wing groups.

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Explain “doesn’t resonate with mainstream viewers ?

If it’s not about the “gay” what is it that doesn’t “resonate”?

Is it both Scott and Brett who don’t “resonate”?

Is it Kyle and Fish together or separately that doesn’t “resonate”?

Did Kyle as a character “resonate” before the viewers realized he was gay? Did Fish?

Scot Evans has never been on contract so did they just keep him around for almost 3 years because he’s pretty? Do tell.

You’re ascribing things to me that aren’t about me. I’m an individual, not some sheep following along and I have a right to voice my opinion and what I see is a heterosexist point of view taking precedence over good storytelling..

ABC made this about the characters being gay, I didn’t start it.

I don’t know what you gripe is with NUKE fans an KISH fans in general and it’s not really relevant to what I’M saying. How do you even know I’m a fan of NUKE? Who’s talking about NUKE, I never even mentioned them.

What does Crystal Hunt have to do with anything? Lot’s of actors got fired and the reasons given didn’t target their race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. I have no problem with firing an actor that isn’t working out as an actor, I have a problem with an American tv show, in 2010 firing actors because its viewership is upset about all the gay. OLTL has had some of the most preposterous story lines (for good or ill) I’ve ever seen outside of Passions. So to target the Big Gay Wedding as somehow totally out the box and over the line is just coo coo bananas.

I’m responding to the REASONS the producers of OLTL gave for why they fired BOTH Brett and Scott. That’s the issue. They are the one’s who made it about the characters being gay, not me.

If it’s all about Scott, why fire both of them AND why not just say they are firing them because the actors aren’t working out AS ACTORS?

What does their “mainstream” viewers have to do with anything? Whether it was Frank Valenti or The Pied Piper is immaterial to me.

If actors suck, then fire them because they suck.

Don’t claim that you are firing them for a whole host of other reasons that have to do with the sensibilities of your viewing audience then get shocked when members of your viewing audience who don’t happen to have that particular sensibility decide to speak out against your decision.

Scott Evans was on the show for an entire year before he even interacted with Brett Claywell, if his acting sucked so badly they could have fired him then. His character has always been a second-tier character so they could have easily replaced him. Why keep him around if he was so much trouble?

If you think the folks complaining to ABC about gays on OLTL aren’t right-wing, then you’re just not a very critical thinker or you have no idea about the way American culture functions.

I’m not slamming the right-wing viewers. They have a right to their opinion. But they don’t speak for me and my voice is just as valid.

I am simply pointing out that the people who complain are usually right wing and if you read their comments that’s pretty clear. Whether they are lovely people in their personal lives doesn’t matter because that has no effect on the daily lives of gay folks in the US.

Obviously there are right wing folks who like KISH. But, of course not, they aren’t the folks I’m talking about.

If people don’t want to see gay characters on your tv because they are gay, they are conservative homophobes. Period.

If we’re talking about firing actors for being bad actors, then I can think of at least two hands full of other actors on OLTL that I’ve observed who SHOULD be on the chopping block long before Scott Evans of Brett Claywell.

My grandma called what OLTL producers are doing “Spitting on someone’s next and trying to convince them it’s rain”

That dog won’t hunt. That’s all I’m saying.

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There’s no pt debating w/ you. As for who’s “complaining” about Kish, I’m a queer male viewer of soaps, I thought Claywell was a good actor and he was the only actor who carried Kish, but I thought Evans sucked at the role majority of the time. So to make a sweeping generalization that only homophobes with an agenda don’t like Kish is closeminded. People can or can’t like a same sex rel storyline based on other factors too, like performances (Claywell’s was good, Evans’s was awful) and writing (Carlivati clearly had many missteps). Majority of the Kish fans seem as closeminded as these so called homophobic grps that they blame for Kish’s axing. I find it strange that you would say it’s immaterial that Frank valentini or the pied piper is who axed Kish. Who axed Kish has everything to do with it. If it was Brian frons who axed Kish then everyone would be complaining at him. It’s very telling that the soap press in particular are not going after Frank valentini on this issue of him axing Kish, but they raked Goutman through the coals for the Nuke kissing banishment, and they all but crucified Wheeler, a Mormon, for not letting Otalia marry in the GL finale. Goutman and Wheeler did not get rid of their same sex couple, but Valentini did.

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Persa .. if you watch the video, around 13 minutes in, Brett says something like they do a lot of scenes in 1 take. Doesn’t sound like partying is a huge problem if it’s 1 take.

I only watched OLTL because of Kish and when they are gone, I will be gone as well.

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DO NOT stop this storyline. It has been one of the best depictions of just how gay people live in the non-accepting gay world. I lived in the closet for a long, long time — fifty years — going the marriage route for a number of years. It wasn’t until my husband’s death and subsequent psychiatric counseling for other issues that I finally came out. I have been out fourteen years. I never felt as much of whom I was and am until that day when I declared I can be my gay self. The story on One Life To Live has been one of the best, better than All My Children even. It has featured gay men which it seems programs have trouble showing how they really feel, interact, how they think and believe. Women have been portrayed many times. This was a real break through as far as I am concerned. Please do not let naysayers and others decide what you will put in the show. It is certainly more realistic than underground worlds and Mitch Lawrence. Would you please kill him and Allison once and for all!

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dont stop this storyline with brett claywell and scott evans and keep going to keep their storyline open and we need to bring scott evans and brett clatwell to bring them back to the show with oltl

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General Hospital

Kelly Sullivan Gives High Praise to ‘General Hospital’s’ Maura West Recalling When Ava Shot Connie (Exclusive)

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6 hours ago

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September 12, 2026

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Maura West and Kelly Sullivan

It was just over 13 years ago on General Hospital when Ava Jerome (Maura West) shot and killed Kate Howard/Connie Falconeri (Kelly Sullivan) in an effort to keep her quiet from revealing that Derek Wells was actually Ava’s back-from-the-dead brother, Julian Jerome (William deVry). It’s a crime that somehow Ava never has quite paid for either.

The episode back aired on August 13, 2013 and viewers had to say goodbye to Kelly Sullivan who played Kate and her alter, Connie. In the story, just before she died, Kate/Connie scrawled the letters AJ in her own blood, initially making the PCPD and Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) think that it was AJ Quatermaine (Sean Kanan) who did the deed.

Now, Sullivan recalled sharing scenes with the three-time Daytime Emmy-winning West, during a live conversation on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel. Kelly was the special guest talking about her recent return to the soaps in her new role as The Bold and the Beautiful’s Darcy Dylan.

Photo: JPI

FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF MAURA WEST

Speaking of her final GH scenes and working with Maura West, Sullivan gave her then GH co-star major props. “If you’re going to be shot by somebody (on the soaps), you want to be shot by Maura West, c’mon!”

Maura West debuted back in May 2013 as Ava, and Sullivan remembered when the As the World Turns favorite began on GH. “I remember when Maura West first arrived at GH. She walked in with this cute little bob (hairdo) and she’s just delicious,” shared Sullivan.

A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE

Kelly revealed more about Maura, adding “I think she’s amazing! I remember right before I left the show, someone suggested, and I would still love to do this with her, if she ever want to, but someone suggested that they wanted to direct the stage play A Streetcar Named Desire with Maura and I, where I would play Stella and she would play Blanche! Wouldn’t that be great?”

Speaking of the Ava/Connie showdown scenes, Sullivan expressed, “On television and on General Hospital specifically, Maura West is able to play a character who does the most horrendous things and you still care about her and that’s the mark of a really great actor. In other words, you’re able to be liked in the midst of the most horrendous things, and as a performer not shying away from that, and to just have the courage to do what’s on the page (in the script).”

Photo: JPI

KELLY SULLIVAN PARTING THOUGHTS AS SHE LEFT GENERAL HOSPITAL

Kelly also shared her sentiments when she walked off the set of General Hospital after her run back in August of 2013. “I really was honored. Every day I would go to work and I would say a little prayer, which is I want to do justice for my character, explained Kelly. “It’s between me and my character. I get to walk this path with her and to leave the show on that note, which is, I left every out there. I just gave it my all and again what an honor it was to play Kate/Connie.”

You can catch the full conversation with Kelly where she talks about her time on General Hospital, The Young and the Restless where she played Sage Warner and now The Bold and the Beautiful below.

So, do you remember the Ava and Connie scenes where Ava shot and killed her? What did you think of Kelly Sullivan’s sentiments about Maura West? Share your thoughts via the comment section. But first, watch the reveal where Ava recalls murdering Connie below!

 

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General Hospital

Steve Burton Reportedly Signs Three-Year Contract with ‘General Hospital’

Published

8 hours ago

on

September 12, 2026

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Steve Burton

The question of will Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) stay awhile at General Hospital after his recent extended hiatus from the show earlier this year, has reportedly been answered.

TMZ via court documents obtained in Burton’s ongoing legal battle with his ex-wife Sheree Gustin, shared that Steve actually inked a new three year deal with the ABC soap opera back in June.

That is significant because it was June when Burton returned back to work as Jason. In addition, the court filing confirmed that Burton had already moved back to California from Tennessee.

Steve Burton

Photo: ABC

STEVE’S HIATUS AND HIS RETURN TO PORT CHARLES

GH fans will recall, it was back in February of 2026, that Burton announced via his Instagram that he was stepping away from his role of Jason Morgan for short break and pointed to wanting to spend quality time with his new wife, Michelle Lundstrom Burton with whom he tied the knot back on May 17, 2025.

Steve expressed at that time, “I’m newly married and looking forward to spending some quality time with my family.” It was back on March 25 that viewers saw Jason carted away by the WSB after taking the fall for Rocco Falconeri (Finn Carr) who shot then WSB Director Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes).

Burton returned to work on June 1, and due to General Hospital taping roughly six weeks ahead of air, made his on-screen comeback on the July 13 episode.

GOING FOR GOLD AT THE UPCOMING DAYTIME EMMYS

Then, Steve and his enduring fans got an extra special treat on the same day, when it was revealed on Extra that he was nominated for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama Series category.

Steve previously won in the Supporting Actor category for his work as General Hospital’s Jason in 1998 and as The Young and the Restless’ Dylan McAvoy in 2018.

Now with Jason and Britt’s (Kelly Thiebaud) relationship seemingly hitting the skids, plus Jason’s commitment to staying out of mob life to focus on being present for his son Danny Morgan (Asher Antonyzyn), what does the future hold for the fan favorite character? Stay tuned.

So, happy to hear that Steve Burton signed a new three year deal with General Hospital? Knowing that, what storyline would you like to see Jason get involved and with who? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section.

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News

Jess Walton Memoir ‘The Young and the Rest of Us’ Set for Release in 2027

Published

1 day ago

on

September 11, 2026

By

Jess Walton

The Young and the Restless enduring favorite and two-time Daytime Emmy-winning actress, Jess Walton (Jill Foster Abbott) is set to release her memoir!

Kensington Publishing has revealed on their website that Walton’s book The Young and the Rest of Us is now available for pre-order while listing an April 27, 2027 release date. In addition, in June of 2027, Walton will mark her 40th anniversary with The Young and the Restless and her debut as Jill.

The official log lines for the memoir share, “Emmy Award-winning actress Jess Walton, known to millions as the iconic Jill Abbott on the #1 soap opera The Young and the Restless, shares her extraordinary journey to stardom, sobriety, true love, and self-discovery in this startingly candid, intimate, and star-studded memoir.”

Jess Walton

Photo; Kensington Books

CAKE FIGHTS AND CORPORATE INTRIGUE

The book description for The Young and the Rest of Us adds,  “In June 1987, Jess Walton walked through the artists’ entrance at CBS for her first day on The Young and the Restless,where she had just been hired to play the recast role of Jill Abbott. Two Emmy awards, four decades, and countless onscreen affairs, marriages, corporate takeovers, and cake fights later, she’s a beloved icon with an astonishing tale to tell.”

“In her refreshingly candid style, Jess shares her journey as a young actress from Toronto theaters to Los Angeles, where she found herself at the center of a Laurel Canyon circle that included the likes of Neil Young, David Geffen, Laura Nyro, and Joni Mitchell. Landing a Universal contract and a steady stream of guest starring roles, Jess embraced everything 1970s L.A. had to offer—including Hollywood parties fueled by limitless booze and drugs, and trysts with stars. She recounts with candor and gratitude the surprising path that eventually led her to sobriety, true love—and ultimately, to fictional Genoa City, Wisconsin, and the role of a lifetime.”

“Brimming with behind-the-scenes drama and celebrity cameos to delight fans, The Young and the Rest of Us is also rich in personal, relatable truths about marriage, motherhood, empty-nesting, self-discovery, and finding the courage to start over—as often as it takes. In a voice as fearless and frank as Jill’s, but with, humor and grace all her own, Jess Walton looks back on a life as unpredictable, and adventure filled as anything she has portrayed on screen.”

WHO ELSE PLAYED JILL FOSER ABBOTT?

Fans of The Young and the Restless know that Walton became the fourth actress to take on the role of Katherine Chancellor’s original nemesis Jill Foster back in 1987. The OG Jill was played by Brenda Dickson, also Deborah Adair, Bond Gideon and Melinda O. Fee played the part.

This year, Days of our Lives star Lauren Koslow (Kate Roberts) filled-in for several episodes for Walton who was unavailable to travel from her home in Oregon to Los Angeles where Y&R was taped. Walton is still with the long-running soap opera as Jill.

So, excited to learn of Jess Walton’s upcoming memoir, ‘The Young and the Rest of Us?’ Will it be it a must-read for you? Drop a comment below.

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