‘Young And The Restless’ Star Victoria Rowell Sues Soap Opera For Racism

She’s not young, and they’re all racist.

A former star of the “Young and Restless” soap opera sued the producers of the show Wednesday for not re-hiring her for racist reasons.

Victoria Rowell, who is black and played the character Drucilla Winters, appeared in over 2,000 episodes from 1990 to 2007, documents filed in Manhattan Federal Court charge.

Rowell, 55, claims that black actors were treated as second-class stars on the set, and that she even had to pay for a “capable African American hair stylist.”

“White actors and actresses taunted Ms. Rowell and the stylist with impunity, and told Ms. Rowell that her hair ‘smelled,’” documents read.

Other examples of racism abound, including actress Melody Thomas Scott mockingly wearing an oversized afro wig on set, and actress Michelle Stafford spitting on the plaintiff and calling her a "freak" and screaming "no one here likes you!" according to court papers.

Rowell quit the show when the writers made her character go insane. She was thrown in a strait jacket and hauled to asylum. Her character then fell off a cliff and the body never found, leaving some fans clamoring for her return and a resolution of the mystery.

The show, on-air since 1973, hired its first black writer in 2011 in large part to Rowell’s public criticism, she says.

Now she can’t get a job on daytime TV.

“Ms. Rowell has been blacklisted from even being considered for roles on daytime television and on any CBS programming, not because of any acting deficiencies or viewers' desires, but because of retaliation for her advocacy for African Americans in front of and behind the camera,” documents say.

She seeks damages, back pay and front pay to be determined at trial.

A spokeswoman for CBS said the suit was bogus.

“We were disappointed to learn that, after leaving the cast of ‘The Young and the Restless’ on her own initiative, Ms. Rowell has attempted to rewrite that history through lawyers' letters and a lawsuit that has no merit,” the spokeswoman said. “We harbor no ill will toward Ms. Rowell, but we will vigorously defend this case.”

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