Young &The Restless veteran Eric Braeden, AKA Victor Newman, will not have people trashing his profession. Braeden, who is known to portray ruthless businessman Victor Newman on the longest-running soap opera, ripped into Eva Longoria. The actress allegedly disparaged her experience working in soaps before landing her breakout role in Desperate Housewives. Shortly after, his former co-stars defended Longoria and slammed Braeden as a “grumpy Actor.”
Eric Braeden, who took on the Iconic role of Victor Newman on The Young & The Restless after encouragement from his tennis partner, and movie star, Dabney Coleman, has been a pillar of the show for over 40 years. His long tenure as a soap star has made him protective (defensive?) about the profession.
It all started when Eva Longoria opened up about her experience in soaps when appearing on Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace? last year. The actress was on When Young & The Restless between 2001 and 2003, playing Isabella Braña before she went on to star in her breakout role as Gabrielle Solis on Desperate Housewives from 2004 to 2012.
What did Eva Longoria say?
During the interview, Longoria revealed she worked part-time as a headhunter at a temp agency while starring in Young & The Restless. The acting gig “didn’t pay enough for me to live off being an actor.”
She added “, I would hide the fact that I was on Young and the Restless for my clients because they didn’t want a dumb actress handling their accounts.” Longoria deceived her clients because she didn’t want to lose her day job as a headhunter. She said, “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, you know, still making more money on my day job.”
Eric Braeden Slams Eva Longoria
While the comments appear innocuous, Braeden perceived them as an insult to daytime actors. Eric Braeden took to X to slam the Desperate Housewives star for making what he perceived to be “derogatory comments” about his beloved show.
He wrote, “EVA LONGORIA: you just made derogatory remarks about daytime actors! 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!”
Braeden added, “Our actresses would run rings around you!! And they did then!! From Robert de Nero to whoever they all are, many of them started in the medium you denigrate! It shows a complete lack of class!!”
Former Young & The Restless star defends Eva Longoria.
Eva Longoria chose to ignore the comments. However, Days of Our Lives alum Eric Winter defended Longoria on an episode of his “He Said, Ella Dijo” podcast.
Winter referred to Braeden as a “grumpy actor” who is “trying to find a way in his older age to get back in the spotlight for whatever reason.” He added, “Nothing Eva said was inappropriate. This guy is completely out of line, in my opinion.”
Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Youtube | Google News