Victoria Rowell Lawsuit Update: CBS Fires Back At Former ‘Young And Restless’ Star’s Allegations

Former The Young and the Restless star Victoria Rowell has filed a lawsuit against both CBS and Sony Pictures over not being brought back to the show. Now, the network has responded. While it will take some time for this all to play out, it seems clear that the network plans to stand firm that they did nothing wrong. What’s the latest on Rowell’s lawsuit and the response?

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Victoria Rowell’s lawsuit against CBS, Sony, and others claims that the actress faced retaliation from the network over her private and public comments about diversity on soaps. Rowell, who has played the character of Drucilla Winters on-and-off since 1990, left The Young and the Restless in 2007. In 2010, she tried to get back onto either Y&R or sister soap The Bold and the Beautiful. She was not successful.

Rowell alleges that she was unsuccessful in regaining a spot on either soap because of retaliation by those at Sony and Bell-Phillip Television Production. She says that CBS, seemingly specifically Les Moonves, has pulled strings to prevent her re-hiring, and she also alleges that she experienced racial discrimination in her years with Y&R and that is what led to her reluctant departure in 2007.

Soap Opera Digest shares that CBS has now issued a statement in response to Victoria Rowell’s lawsuit. They say that they harbor no ill will toward Rowell and they plan to vigorously defend the case.

CBS adds, “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.”

People shares some additional insight into Rowell’s lawsuit and allegations. The suit says that Congresswoman Maxine Waters and National Urban League President Marc Morial advocated for Rowell’s return to Y&R with no success. The actress wants a judge to order Sony and CBS to seriously consider her for re-employment with one of the two soaps. She also wants compensation for front pay, back pay, benefits, and punitive damages.

How will this one turn out? Rowell has been retweeting posts from those defending her, creating the hashtag “#dru4diversity.” However, she doesn’t necessarily have the support of all soap fans.

Many point out that The Young and the Restless still has the African-American Winters family prominently featured on the soap. Others point out that Rowell has has many clashes with not only the executives, but at times her fellow actors on the sudser as well. That leads many to wonder if perhaps Rowell not being brought back is due to more than simply her commentary on soap diversity as she now alleges.

Should Victoria Rowell’s lawsuit lead to a big payday for the former Young and Restless actress? Many will be curious to see just how far this one goes.

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