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Shocking behind the scenes news at CBS’ The Young and the Restless. Michael Muhney, who plays anti-hero Adam Newman, announced via social media that he has been let go!
The fan favorite broke news of his departure in a series of messages on Twitter. “I’m so sorry. It breaks my heart to say this, but I was just let go from Y&R. My last day on set is this Thursday. My last air date will be Jan 30th,” wrote the actor. “I’m going to take some private time with my wife & kids, as I am most concerned for their well-being…I have 3 final episodes to film, and because they are my last, I will be giving it everything I have. More details will follow… #xoxoxo”.
Muhney took over the role of Victor Newman’s youngest son in 2009 amidst the controversial departure of then-Adam, Chris Engen. Since his casting, Muhney’s remained a constant player in major storylines. Earlier this year he announced he signed multi-year contract extension with the show.
TVSource Magazine has reached out to The Young and the Restless for comment. We will continue to follow this breaking news as more information is available.
[…] TV Guide (who broke the news) reports the actor will report to set in late September and will first air during November sweeps. Hartley will succeed Michael Muhney, who was let go from from the series last December. […]
[…] former head writer and executive producer, Maria Arena Bell, weighed in on the unexpected exit of fan favorite Michael Muhney as Adam Newman in the new edition of Soap Opera […]
Well, now we know how she could afford Steve Burton and his ridiculous contract.
This has saddened me so much, I almost forgot to vote in the TV Source Poll Tuesday evening when I saw Michael Muhney’s tweet that he had been fired. Like you I have been watching Y&R since Day 1, but this year has been troubling to me. Nothing against the cast, but like you I loved it when they put Adam with Chelsea! She supported him when the whole town was against him! I was so happy when they reunited the two of them last week and hopeful they would keep them together to go against the hypocrisy of the town and ANs father VN! Now we hear MM was fired, after signing a 2-year contract this year in April! There goes my hoped for Chadam magic!
The awful Delia storyline where they make him think he is the killer really made me suspect about the decision-makers intentions regarding Michael Muhney, but I kept watching. Now, I just will not watch the show until his final taping on January 30th, because he is either going to jail or will get hurt and they are once again going to break up that Chadam magic! I have done all I can on twitter and on the internet, but we still have not gotten a formal statement from Sony or CBS or Y&R explaining this controversial decision. All we have is Muhney’s interview, which is so classy and professional, I cried through the entire reading of it! Based on MMs statements it appears he was just as shocked as the rest of us!
I was saddened by the state of the soap this entire year, but this actor’s portrayal of Adam Newman gave me hope and his continued support in the press of the SL’s he had been given caused me to hang on. Even though his SLs were awful, he did an exceptional job with them! During the year the shows constant propping up of Steve Burton (I don’t hate this guy, he is a good actor, but can’t compare to Michael Muhney), in spite of the raw talent, acting range, and depth of Michael Muhney’s portrayal of the complex villain/heroic character of Adam Newman, I got suspicious of the executives at Y&R mid-year, but I literally refused to blame the producers. Now, I know that something’s really not right with this surprise firing, the decision to take Adam off of the canvas for 3 to 6 months, and then to recast for the character of Adam Newman! It is like a bad dream from which I hope I can awaken!
Like you I loved Michelle Stafford and Billy Miller, but at least they had some choice in the decision making process and did not accept the deal they were offered! Michael Muhney signed a new contract, gave up his requirement for 6 months advance notice of his storyline, because none of the other cast did this, and was “let go,” i.e., fired, for what, because he did an exceptional job and has excellent work ethic!
Y&R was the only drama in daytime and primetime I did not miss a day watching, no matter how busy my schedule! I did this since day 1, March 26, 1973! Y&R was my daily escape from the difficulties of life, but was also a great teacher about whatever the current affairs! I noticed, especially in this past year, the Bell precision in storytelling was missing. Consequently, there were many misses in the writing regarding background research and the history of the characters. They were doing things that were totally out of character!
As stated as a busy systems engineer and now lawyer, I loved this show so much I never missed an episode. When I had to miss due to work, I recorded it, listened to it by radio (when TV channels could still be heard by radio), looked at it by special Y&R group “watchings” at work on the big screen in the cafeteria where I worked during lunch hour and, during law school on the big screen in the cafeteria (never took classes during that hour), and on http://www.cbs.com, on Soapnet and later TVGN. So until this week I was faithful to this program.
Well, when Michael Muhney announced his firing and Sony nor CBS issued an official statement to the fans explaining the reasoning, I finally accepted the fact that these people really do not care what the fans say or think, because they believe the fans emotions are short-lived and they will always come back! Well, this is not the case for me! I am done with this and just wanted to comment one final time on the magic of Chadam! My heart is broken, but I will get over it! I will continue to follow the cast I have come to know and love in their other projects, but I am wishing for something really big for Michael Muhney’s career, something exceedingly and abundantly above and beyond anything he could ever ask or think!.
Merry Christmas everyone and the happiest New Year!
“irtr,” aka, Iris R Richard, aka, @talitha_cumi
Billy Miller going & now Michel Muhnay WHY. Doesn’t make sense. Most of the storylines have been about Billy & Adam.
This is PATHETIC! I simply can’t believe that he got fired or they may like to term it better…. let go. BUT it doesn’t take the sting out of any of it. Whoever made that decision needs to maybe be “let go”. Can’t imagine the show without him or Chadam.
And Betty Stanley I didn’t know they let Billy Miller go too… what the? I have a feeling Y&R are going to receive a huge backlash from this and suffer. Shame!
This is just horrible! To fire not only the best actor on their show but one of the absolute best actors on any soap is ridiculous. Hes the ONLY reason people dont revolt every time the writers made Adam a villain. God knows he was the only reason I watched. Shame on them for this! Guarantee I wont be watching again.
I am so sad today. Within the last three months three of my favorites on Young and Restless have been let go. Michelle Stafford, (Phyllis), Billy Miller (Billy Abbott) and today was the straw that broke the camels back, Michael Muhney (Adam Newman) was fired. I cannot believe this. He was the most talented on the entire show. He was great with whomever he had scenes with. Why in the world would they fire this gorgous, talented man. I am done with Young and Restless. I have watched since day one, four generations of my family have been watching the Young and Restless. We are all going to stop when we no longer see Michael Muhney and Billy Miller on our tv screen playing Adam and Billy. Please tell Sony//CBS to beg Michael Muhney to stay before it is too late. They are making a huge mistake. I am so upset about this. These cast members should not be fired. Jill Farren Phelps should be fired and she should take all the new people, including Steve Burton with her. We need our Young and Restless back. Please fans, lets do what we can.
They need to fire Phelps for being so stupid. So many love him & Chadam & I want him rehired. Go go cbs.com/feedback & twitter @savemuhney. We need to save his job as the show won’t be the same without him. I’ve been watching this show for years & don’t even know if I want to continue watching it anymore. I’m more than furious.