OLTL: Actress no longer on contract (again?)

[Ann_SS]

I can't imagine Frons, Valenti, or RC wasting the energy to force out Tika. In the name of diversity, they could have let her stay on contract while she continued to languish on the back burner like they have for years. If they had wanted Tika gone so badly, they would her packing in the last cast purge which makes me think that they were happy to keep her on until the next cast purge anyway. After all, they kept Layla, while they dumped Rachel was who in a romance and the daughter of a main character.

[alexisfan07]

...How does this mean I think she's lying? Her contract was up on July 30, like she said. She chose not to renew and go recurring.

[MontyB]

It's the way you worded it. Maybe I misunderstood your meaning, but post wasn't only directed at you.You just happened to be the last poster.

[alexisfan07]

It's ok. I mean, some people think she asked to be let out of her contract early, and I guess that's possible, but the fact that she first aired in July five years ago makes me think not.

[Vee]

They could certainly still do a lot with Layla on recurring, a la Lauren on Y&R, Rosanna on ATWT, Amanda on AMC. The problem is that as Sumpter has surmised, ABC and OLTL have little interest.

[MontyB]

We're cool, Alexisfan. Knowing me, I guess I carried over the madness that gets posted on SOC. Some folks think everything is a damn conspiracy. Tika made a nice video with her cute self and people just turned it into something that it's not.

[OLTL_fan]

Im glad Tika made a video. Being put on recurring status isnt bad. It already feels like she is on recurring status because we never see her though we are seeing more of her lately due to the Evangeline storyline but she has never been front and center in her own storyline. She has supported other stories yet these idiots make sure Gigi Morasco gets front burner storylines. Thank God she has only been on once a week.

[MontyB]

Agreed OLTL_fan. Tika is doing Tika.

[marceline]

The more I've been thinking about it - and sadly that's been quite a bit - the more I LOVE the fact she made the video. When you see what a trainwreck her costars and colleagues have made of social media (Hickland's chastising Clifton for swearing, Farah's middle finger, Buddy's Twitter "hacker", etc..) and the absolute failure of the soap press to really call these people out and demand a reasonable response, what she did was a shining example of someone who understood what she had power over and what she didn't and leveraged it to her benefit. I suspect there's a pretty sharp business mind underneath that insanely flawless skin. Her (ex)coworkers should take notice...and lessons.

[DCY]

I never really cared for the Layla chracter, but I do wish TS all the best for her career in the future.

That's right.

[shadow]

They did nothing with TS while she was on contract, I highly doubt she will be featured any more if not less now that she is recurring, sounded more like a goodbye video to me.

Didnt TS just sign a new contract back when it was reported she was going on recurring? Why would she choose to go on recurring when she was hardly used (unlike Cady and Crishell) as a contract player and the show let her do other projects while under contract. I am not saying it wasnt her choice, but I think her choices were pretty slim imo.

[marceline]

From what I remember she didn't sign a new contract she simply "remained" on contract. As for why would she choose to go recurring, maybe just maybe she decided that OLTL no longer deserved to call the shots. Now that Tika's recurring, SHE gets to decide if and when she wants to work at OLTL instead of letting TIIC dictate whether they wanted to "let" her do other projects.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

Aww. I'm gonna miss seeing Layla more though. TS is a great actress. And, one hell of a class act woman.

[dragonflies]

From SOD twitter:

OLTL's Tika Sumpter (Layla) will no longer be on contract as of July 30.