An anonymous actor quote from the very latecoming SOD article:

“We often talk about the show as being like a family, and it’s a huge, big dysfunctional family. And that family incorporates the bosses and the workers and the fans, and at the core of it all is people that are just trying to do their best with the job that they have. None of that will change. The core mission of the actors and crew hasn’t changed. They’ll still be doing their absolute best to make at least five episodes of television a week. I would hope that we’re at least allowed to try and do our best without this constant sense of fragility that I feel that we’ve all been dealing with for a couple of years at this point, where we get good news about a pickup and then bad news about literally every other aspect of the day-to-day running of the show. So I would hope that moving forward, we would just be allowed to just concentrate on doing the best job we can and not necessarily have to worry so much about all these extraneous factors. We care and we want it to be good, so we’re gonna keep caring and keep trying to make it good under whatever circumstances arise next.”

16 minutes ago, Errol said:

From what I have seen (external to what is already public), I do not doubt he will sue. Won't elaborate but it's ironic he fired the DAYS PR team considering he himself has retained a consulting firm focused on communications counsel and crisis management.

No crime was alleged nor committed in the legal sense, as no charges were brought against him. When he sues, it'll be civil.

That’s what I figured but I was thinking about the 25 cast members being revealed and it’s been a while since I brushed up on law but I was feeling like since this will probably only be a civil lawsuit matter I doubt the cast members would be revealed like if it was a criminal trial you know.

11 minutes ago, Vee said:

An anonymous actor quote from the very latecoming SOD article:

 

 

The show is never going to be any good until they get a new head writer. It's a shame they all care except for Carlivati.

Okay, ex-soap journo Michael Kape said to me that he would not comment except to say that it was about who owns SOD. So, I went to see about that somewhat quixotic statement that seemed pointed. 

SOD is owned by Odyssey Magazine Publishing Group, Inc. One individual is listed as principal, David J. Pecker. 

David J Pecker is an American publishing executive and businessman who was the CEO of American Media until August 2020. He was the publisher of Men’s Fitness, Muscle and Fitness, Flex, Fit Pregnancy, Shape and Star. He was also the publisher of National Enquirer, Sun, Weekly World News, and Globe 

 

Alarr has worked at days for 20 years and obviously is a talented director/producer who has been able to work around the severe budget cuts Days has endured. No doubt he has an abrasive personality that probably came to the fore more often as his stature grew and the pressure to deliver those 5 eps aweek became more intense.

Ken Corday just seems to want to put his faith on others to keep Days going as he has no real talent or deep investment apart from trying to keep Days alive as a tribute to his parents and the responsibilty passed on to him. Who knows what his personal and professional relationship is to Albert?

I would imagine Ken tells Albert things have gone too far and  he has no other choice-he'll pay out his contract and allow Albert the chance to save face by issuing  a statement in his defense.

 

 

1 hour ago, Paul Raven said:

I would imagine Ken tells Albert things have gone too far and  he has no other choice-he'll pay out his contract and allow Albert the chance to save face by issuing  a statement in his defense.

 

You mean you think he did buy out his contract yesterday before announcing that he had been fired & replaced? And you think it was Ken's idea that Alarr issue that statement blaming everyone else & then playing the race card? 

And, while it is true that they turn over 5 episodes per week to Peacock, they actually tape 8 episodes per week. A Director says that there's no way they could do even one more scene but that they get in those 8 episodes every single week. Then he adds that it sort of makes their heads spin around like an F/X to accomplish it. 

I don't think Ken had any involvement in what Albert put in that statement. 

I can see why Albert expressed those sentiments. His actions and attitude show that he is unaware or uncaring about how his work habits and leadership style affect others. All he sees is 20 years of hard work and success be negated. As his statement shows, he blames a couple of people for stirring up trouble.

i'm sure many of us have worked for, or alongside 'difficult' people who blame others for being 'thin skinned' or 'unable to take a joke'

I remember one co-worker prone to tantrums and crying fits stating 'that's just how I am , I can't change'

 

9 hours ago, Donna L. Bridges said:

So, Alarr will sue Corday Inc. 

He will have his own account & he till try to get cronies to testify for him. No idea if they will vanish or stick. 

Corday inc. will have the 2-month report which interviewed 30+ people. The SAGAFTRA reports from this week. Testimony they might get from cast or crew. Examples of fan reaction online. 

Surely with that Corday Inc. would fight instead of settle. 

Anyway, that's how I hope it would stack up. 

I have one question. I'm not sure where the 2 million figure came from. Seems so high. Was that confirmed? 

 

9 hours ago, FancyShoes said:

Personally I don’t think it will stick. If anything I am sure he making all this noise because he didn’t think he would be fired. Looking at his resume, he has only been working in soaps and with it only being 4 soaps left he is not looking good to go knock on the other 3 soaps doors asking for a job. Knowing Corday tried to keep all this under the rug until Deadline and days fans was dead on his neck, he will try to settle this quietly too. 

Obviously, we don't know what's gone on behind the scenes, but I hope that what actually took this week to get sorted was a settlement with AA. I think that's why it took so long to announce his exit and why he was allowed to publish a lengthy, personally slanted, statement, and why the statement from Corday was so short, bland, and inconsequential. 

If AA does sue, I think he'll have a terribly expensive uphill climb. The entire cast will testify against him, ex-cast members will testify against him, and there may be crew who would testify against him as well. On a balance of probabilities, which is the legal test in a civil lawsuit, I don't see how he'd succeed. 

2 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

Obviously, we don't know what's gone on behind the scenes, but I hope that what actually took this week to get sorted was a settlement with AA. I think that's why it took so long to announce his exit and why he was allowed to publish a lengthy, personally slanted, statement, and why the statement from Corday was so short, bland, and inconsequential. 

If AA does sue, I think he'll have a terribly expensive uphill climb. The entire cast will testify against him, ex-cast members will testify against him, and there may be crew who would testify against him as well. On a balance of probabilities, which is the legal test in a civil lawsuit, I don't see how he'd succeed. 

From your keyboard to the universe's fate or destiny!

@Paul RavenI think what we have seen goes well beyond just an abrasive personality or a difficult boss. The sheer number of actors that signed the letter tells me that this was way more than that. Those types of things just do not happen often. The actions taken after the investigation and Corday’s handling of it by the cast kind of prove the seriousness of the allegations. What those women came forward with is more than a difficult boss.

To me what we have here is the classic case of no one (Corday) managing issues before they become this systemic and problematic. If Alarr’s behavior had been addressed much earlier (as Farrah Faith claimed, he was gross all the way back to her first love scene), then maybe his talents would have prevailed and his behavior towards women could have been corrected in the working environment. Although personally I think disrespecting women in this way, or being racist or homophobic at any time with colleagues is worth termination. But I get HR departments try to mitigate firing immediately.

Now the larger issue as pointed out by Alarr is worth noting as well- daytime soaps have a terrible track record with hiring people of color and moving them into leadership positions. Or onscreen. 

Edited August 6, 20232 yr by titan1978

1 hour ago, titan1978 said:

Now the larger issue as pointed out by Alarr is worth noting as well- daytime soaps have a terrible track record with hiring people of color and moving them into leadership positions. Or onscreen.

DAYS Writing for example had 4 African Americans. 1. Dorell last script 2-1 and his contract term just ran out. 2. Jamey took a primetime gig by his choice although he still owes the show 2 weeks after strike 3. Cheryl won a playright's competition & her play is going to be produced. Obviously her choice to leave & so proud! 4. Recent Jazmen last day. IDK. Largely the show could not retain them by no fault of its own but where are the new recruits POC?!! 2 recent hires have been family members. That's a choice. 

I'm glad Albert Alarr is GONE. Good riddance! He should have been fired long ago. But unlike others thrilled about Janet Spellman-Drucker, I'd love to know if she ever spoke out over the years since she was on the front lines during Alarr's reign. With all of the toxicity onset, Janet was there and saw it first hand.  Did she ever speak up to anyone? Promoting the next in line because she's been there for decades yet she was there to witness all of the crap seems corporate standard to me. I completely understand why some wanted Sonia Blangiardo since she is a director and not onset everyday. Did Janet ever stand up to Albert and tell him that what he was doing is unacceptable? If she didn't and was afraid that she'd fired if she spoke up, I don't have much confidence in her ability to lead this show. I'd love to know her point of view about what happened all these years while she was there.

21 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

I was called out for saying that cast members like Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn needed to say something about the mess at DAYS. I was told I was victim-shaming and that I put them in an impossible postition.

I'm sorry you felt that way, because I hope this is a lively community where everyone gets to say their peace.  But I also think that you may have misrepresented the responses to your post.

21 hours ago, ranger1rg said:

cast members CAN and DID make a difference.

The cast did an excellent job at advocating for themselves.  However, Ms Zucker did not make a well considered post in response to fans begging her to speak out. She organized her peers and affected change as a professional.

I believe fans should not use social media to either force actors into making a statement, nor should we judge those who have not. I inferred your original post as demanding established actors do something performative to give voice to the audience outrage, which I felt was misguided, so I engaged with you based on that issue.

19 hours ago, DaytimeFan said:

 

Obviously, we don't know what's gone on behind the scenes, but I hope that what actually took this week to get sorted was a settlement with AA. I think that's why it took so long to announce his exit and why he was allowed to publish a lengthy, personally slanted, statement, and why the statement from Corday was so short, bland, and inconsequential. 

If AA does sue, I think he'll have a terribly expensive uphill climb. The entire cast will testify against him, ex-cast members will testify against him, and there may be crew who would testify against him as well. On a balance of probabilities, which is the legal test in a civil lawsuit, I don't see how he'd succeed. 

I am sure some fans would like to say some things too lol

8 hours ago, titan1978 said:

@Paul RavenI think what we have seen goes well beyond just an abrasive personality or a difficult boss. The sheer number of actors that signed the letter tells me that this was way more than that. Those types of things just do not happen often. The actions taken after the investigation and Corday’s handling of it by the cast kind of prove the seriousness of the allegations. What those women came forward with is more than a difficult boss.

To me what we have here is the classic case of no one (Corday) managing issues before they become this systemic and problematic. If Alarr’s behavior had been addressed much earlier (as Farrah Faith claimed, he was gross all the way back to her first love scene), then maybe his talents would have prevailed and his behavior towards women could have been corrected in the working environment. Although personally I think disrespecting women in this way, or being racist or homophobic at any time with colleagues is worth termination. But I get HR departments try to mitigate firing immediately.

Now the larger issue as pointed out by Alarr is worth noting as well- daytime soaps have a terrible track record with hiring people of color and moving them into leadership positions. Or onscreen. 

The lack of people of color has always been a problem for soaps but that’s another conversation. The problem is the fact he tried to use his race as if it was the real reason he was let go instead of what was the obvious.