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Y&R: RIP Kristoff St John


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Exactly although the outpour was tremendous....

 

I read the whole cast and crew are completely devastated, how could they not be...He was young, beautiful, talented and had so much to live for.... We are devastated....They worked side by side with him and he had many friends there and throughout the whole industry.  So we have to realize if we feel this way imagine their very dear friend and colleague?

 

Tell me about it....I'm  welling up again. 

Edited by BellaCuore
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That also made me cry...I saw this last night and I took a bunch a pics from twitter and instagram for another group who can't see all this. I love Don as well....KSJ had also so many who he didn't even work with in the industry who adored him as well...

 

ATWT although no longer airing made a statement as well. So beautiful...

 

People again were making comments about how nobody made statements. I told them people need time, they are devastated that a young, gorgeous talented man who was their friend is gone. So I showed them. If they could only see what is on FB from the same people and others who work with him, did not work with him but friends, writers, producers....It is HUGE the outpour....Rightfully so....

 

I wish people would realize some can't even speak as their so upset/devastated…..Doesn't make their grief and devastation less. I know I made a few statements but had to stop cause it is so heartbreaking and upsetting. 

Edited by BellaCuore
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From VR's interview:

 

“Plain and simple, they punished us for speaking out on it. If we were a white couple with this level of popularity, this denial never would have happened. In my opinion, and Kristoff agreed, the powers that be at SONY could not bare to see an African American leading actor and actress pull up the ratings. Though counter-intuitive to business; that is what racism looks like.

 

Rowell insists that Kristoff St. John spent lots of energy fighting for more agency on the series he helped make a success. “He strove to be a writer on the show and to have his stories incorporated. He opened up to me as recently as last year about how these stories were rejected. It pained him that after more than 25 years, he was still being rejected in this way. As a confidant, there are things I won’t share, but everyone in the corporate strata could have done better by him,” she says.

 

“What we’re talking about is repeated diminishment of talent value. It’s called control. We knew our power though we were led to believe that we were powerless. Kristoff never bought into that.

 

She said it. If she were anyone else she'd be returning for Neil's sendoff in some form but it will never happen.

 

And he stayed a solid company man because despite how they diminished and neutered Neil became he STILL understood the importance of just having him on screen as the stalwart lynchpin of this family.

 

It's interesting that KSJ's last day is on Wednesday, wasn't Wednesday known as Black Wednesday on Y&R for years? Where all the black stories would feature?

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I have a lot of thoughts about all that but this is 100% correct AFAIC:

 

 

They've been trying to dismantle the black canvas for many years (and largely succeeded). Which is ironic since when I was a kid I only knew Y&R in passing because of Victor, Katherine, Dru and Malcolm. To CBS/Sony today, pushing the black canvas would be 'going backwards' past how they've tried to 'modernize' Y&R. Insane but it's how they seem to think. It's the same mindset that gave you Steve Burton, or a bunch of other ABC stars starting with Latham's regime, or the fairly forced push of the Rosales characters because it's possibly a McDaniel pet project (and lest we forget, it's been focus tested that Latino characters on soaps read 'more white' to a conservative audience - something ABC learned long ago). It has nothing to do with what makes Y&R Y&R, it's always about making it something else. The black viewership and canvas are Y&R, and they've always been a threat. Which is why when it came to letting Mishael Morgan drop they didn't hesitate.

Edited by Vee
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I read that VR interview in The Grio and I was coming to post it, but so glad someone already did.

What can I say?  It confirmed much of what I thought.  I didn't know he wanted to write for the show but it makes sense, given the fact that he had been involved in other projects over the years and had a desire to delve more deeply into Y&R.

 

I think another part of Kristoff St. John's lasting legacy will be how he made others feel-- from his colleagues to fans that he encountered on the street.  The wonderful way he made people feel when they met him.

 

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I haven't watched Y&R for many years but I did grow up watching Kristoff St. John in SO many shows (the Roots movie, The Cosby Show, Generations).  I didn't realize just how much he was a part of my "life." The tributes from co-stars and colleagues alike are all very touching and heartwarming.  What an amazing man he was.  I feel so bad for his family.

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I definitely got the sense that someone/some persons did not want Devon/Hilary to become "THE" couple, so when Mishael Morgan asked for a raise after five years of solid work, her request was rejected.  They were just fine with letting one of the best couplings to come along in years because they didn't want them to be "The Face" of Y&R any more than they'd ever wanted Dru & Neil to be "The Face" of Y&R

 

So do I, whenever I think about his daughters especially.

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