14 DAY TRIAL // Michael Muhney was fired abruptly from “The Young and the Restless” last month, with fresh reports suggesting that producers made this decision because co-star Hunter King had complained he’d been harassing her. If she hadn’t demanded that he be fired, Eric Braeden would have, most likely.
What Victor Newman wants, Victor Newman gets – they don’t call him the most powerful man in fictional Genoa City for nothing.
Braden has starred on the soap opera since 1980 and is, without a doubt, one of the most famous faces and powerful characters on it. He’s also powerful off screen, as Muhney would have found out if King hadn’t complained about him to the bosses.
By the way, she told them he had fondled her breasts on at least 2 separate occasions, but is yet to file a police report. There are no witnesses to the alleged incident.
Radar Online claims to have it on very good authority that Braeden and Muhney never saw eye to eye, and that things between them got so bad at one point they were getting physical on set when the cameras weren’t rolling, and they had to be separated “several times.”
“[They] were constantly at each other’s throats. Michael took his role very, very seriously, and always had all of his lines memorized. Eric on the other hand is very, very laid back and refuses to memorize his lines. He would often ad-lib scenes with Michael, which drove him crazy,” says an insider.
This meant that they couldn’t work well together and it drove the older actor insane, to the point where he was trying to get producers to fire him, by pointing out to them that things were going from bad to worse with each day.
“Production assistants are constantly placing Eric’s lines on props that he can read during filming. There is no other actor on the show that does this….he gets away with it because of who he is. Michael thought it was insulting not to just the scenes they filmed together, but to the entire show. Michael’s work ethic is top notch, and yes, he is a perfectionist, it’s what made him such a tremendous actor, and fans recognized that,” the insider adds.
When King went to CBS bosses to complain of Muhney, the spy continues, Braeden was happy to put all his weight behind her, vocally supporting her when she asked that he be fired or she’d go to the police to file a report.
“If you are one of Eric’s allies, consider yourself lucky, if you get on his bad side, good luck. During this entire ordeal from when Hunter made the complaint, until it was made public, Eric has offered his counsel and guidance to Hunter, which she is very thankful for,” the insider explains.
Michael Muhney is yet to address the controversy around his firing but he’ll probably do so soon, because the rumors are threatening to ruin his credibility and reputation entirely.