Taking a stand! Eva Longoria‘s friends defended her after soap star Eric Braeden claimed she made “derogatory remarks” about daytime TV actors.
Days of Our Lives alum Eric Winter and his wife, Roselyn Sánchez, chimed in on the drama during the Monday, March 27, episode of their “He Said, Ella Dijo” podcast. Winter, 46, referred to Braeden, 81, as a “grumpy actor” who has “been around forever in the soap world” while discussing his recent social media “rant” about Longoria, 48.
“I don’t even want to give him the courtesy of reading everything he says,” he continued, as Sánchez, 49, called the situation “really awful.”
The Rookie actor argued: “Nothing Eva said was inappropriate. This guy is completely out of line, in my opinion, because he doesn’t know what Eva’s financial stance was at that time in her career. I guarantee you he was making a ton more money than she was. … This guy is trying to find a way in his older age to get back in the spotlight for whatever reason and to make it a point to defend daytime [television], which she was not attacking.”
Sánchez — who appeared on Devious Maids, a Lifetime series produced by Longoria, from 2013 to 2016 — called for Braeden to take accountability. “Eric Braeden, you should apologize because you were out of line and what you said was completely uncalled for,” she said.
Earlier this month, Longoria reflected on her experience playing Isabella Braña on The Young and the Restless from 2001 to 2003. She claimed on the March 19 episode of Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? that the role “didn’t pay enough for me to live off being an actor,” so she continued her day job as a headhunter at the time.
“I would hide the fact I was on Young and the Restless to my clients, because they didn’t want, like, a dumb actress handling their accounts,” she explained. “And one time one of my clients was like, ‘You look like a girl I’ve seen on a soap opera.’ And I go, ‘No, I don’t know who that is.’ I was, like, the opposite of a publicist’s dream. I was like, ‘Don’t tell anybody I’m on that show,’ because I was still making more money on my day job.”
Braeden — who has portrayed Victor Newman on the CBS soap since 1980 — was quick to share his thoughts on Longoria’s comments after the interview aired. “EVA LONGORIA: you just made derogatory remarks about daytime actors!” he tweeted on March 19. “You simply weren’t good enough to survive the pressures of this medium! You were very lucky to get on that ‘housewife’ show! You did one show in 8-12 days, with mediocre but salacious dialogue!”
The Daytime Emmy winner continued: “Our actresses would run rings around you!! And they did then!! From Robert [De Niro] to whoever they all are, many of them started in the medium you denigrate! It shows a complete lack of class!!”
When one fan argued that Longoria should apologize, Braeden noted he didn’t think it was necessary. “I simply reacted to hearing this while watching CNN and CHRIS WALLACE, who I respect!” he tweeted. “But when the soap medium is being denigrated by anyone, I’ll go after them! This is the hardest medium for an actor, PERIOD!!! Be effing proud of it!!!”
In another reply, he stated that the Telenovela alum should “be proud” of even the less successful moments she’s had in Hollywood. “There’s this sense of what we do, entertaining MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD ON A DAILY BASIS, as somehow less than!” he wrote.
The Young and the Restless celebrated its 50th anniversary this month with the return of some fan-favorite stars, from Michael Damian to Barbara Crampton. Last year, the series scored three major victories at the 2022 Daytime Emmy Awards including Outstanding Original Song and Outstanding Casting.
