The Young and the Restless Spoilers venture into a controversial area of hiring and firing on Y&R. The Young and the restless has been CBS’s number one soap for over 40 years, the show has seen it’s ups and downs but keeps pushing onward. One of the most controversial subjects was the firing of hugely loved fan favorite Michael Muhney.
We can start that subject with some backdrop on the person at the center of that storm, the storm that does not seem to be going away no matter how hard people try not to talk about it. Let’s talk about double Emmy award winning Hunter King who now plays Summer Newman. Hunter King was most well known from her role on Hollywood Heights where she portrayed Adriana Masters but has been acting since she was 6 years old! Hunter talks about how she landed the role of Summer Newman on America’s number 1 CBS soap!
Lindsay Bushman was only a few months into the role when she was replaced by Hunter King by Y&R’ s Executive Producer Jill Farren Phelps. Paulette Cohn of About Entertainment interviewed Hunter King about how she assumed the role of Summer Newman. Hunter Said “Jill brought me over there. I never auditioned for Y&R. Jill [who had worked with Hunter on Hollywood Heights] just called me. As I was coming off the plane from Florida with a friend, Jill called and said, ‘Do you want to come work on Y&R and play Summer?’ I was like, “Yeah.” She said, ‘Okay. You start in two days.”‘
Hunter said she stepped into a huge story line where Summer was in a car accident and just waking up in the hospital. Hunter King was involved in a huge controversy in 2014 where she accused uber fan favorite Michal Muhney [ Adam Newman ] of fondeling her breast twice.
In a Jan 2014 issue Dailymail reported: “The Young and the Restless actress Hunter King reportedly gave the soap opera’s producers an ultimatum involving the police before they fired her co-star Michael Muhney”.
King took her complaint to top officials at CBS and Sony and threatened police involvement unless they acted, according to an article in RadarOnline.com. ‘Hunter demanded Michael be fired or else she would file a police report against him,’ an anonymous source said. Michael Muhney previously had disagreements with show writers and co-star Eric Braeden and the decision was made to let him go, the source added. ‘However, Hunter was told by producers, if she believed a crime had been committed, she should pursue appropriate action, regardless of their decision,’ the source said. King has yet to file a police report… interesting.
After the firing of their hero, fans of a Michael Muhney Facebook page collected over $700 to fly a banner above the Y&R studios showing support for Michael Muhney. Hunter King and Jill Farren Phelps came under heavy attack on social media and the net in general – they have not escaped the derision yet….
In 2013 Hunter King was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series and she lost to Kristen Alderson that year. But coincidentally, after Michael Muhney’s firing on her word, she did take the Golden Emmy home in 2014 beating out talent Kristen Alderson, Kim Matula, Linsey Godfrey and Kelly Missal. Shockingly, Hunter scored again in 2015 again winning twice in a row – once again beating out some of the best actresses in the industry to the shock and the apparent disappointment of many vocal fans!
Whatever happened to Emmy Award nominated Michael Muhney? The father of three continues to work in the industry making movies. One memorable Christmas movie with veteran actress Gloria Loring was called “Back to Christmas” which aired on Hallmark this past December. Michal Muhney fans are loud on social media and miss him very much but they have warmed to the new Adam Newman [Justin Hartley] since he is a great guy and talented actor.
Hunter King’s character seems to be wrapped up in one scene after another getting tons of airtime although many fans find her whiny and ditzy portrayal of Summer to be irritating to the max. Starting with marrying Austin Travers [Matthew Atkinson] last year, then mourning his untimely death on Feb 14 2014 with the Cabin Killer story we have seen much of Hunter while other very talented actors take a backseat. Summer jumped from the putative murder of her dear husband almost immediately into a Kyle Abbott romance, she was the one who saw Joe Clark get up out of his wheelchair when he was supposedly paralyzed, she was the hero who told Auntie Avery [Jessica Collins]. Summer is the one yelling the loudest about her grandfather Victor Newman’s [Eric Braeden] innocence in the embezzlement scandal – she is in scene after scene with soap mom Phyllis [Gina Tognoni] – she is one busy girl on Y&R. Summer Newman seems to be the dream role for a girl her age. No worries that the character will ever be on a back burner considering she is involved with almost every character on the show. Yes Hunter King is clearly getting favorite treatment by JFP and TPTB on Y&R.
Young and the Restless is now gearing up to finally end SOME of the stories that have been dragging on for too many months so stay tuned to daytime’s number one rated soap The Young and the Restless! Tell us CDL’rs, which story lines are you ready to see wrapped up? Please leave your thoughts in the CDL comments below!
