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Wow, this is kind of sad; but, if true, Charlie Sheen was right:
Chandler Massey
Report: Massey blindsided by DAYS dismissal
by Dan J Kroll
Posted Wednesday, August 28, 2013 2:39:11 PM
Emmy winner Chandler Massey was blindsided by Days of our Lives’ decision to let him out of his contract early. A newly published report claims that the NBC soap made the decision because Massey had not informed them of his plans to leave the show. Massey joined DAYS in 2010.
Fans and reporters were not the only ones surprised by Chandler Massey’s (Will Horton) Emmy-pulpit announcement that he’d be exiting Days of our Lives. According to a newly published report, Days of our Lives executives were also caught off-guard.
In June, after winning his second consecutive Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Younger Actor category, Massey revealed that he would not be re-signing his contract when it expired in December.
“I want to go back to school. I want to graduate. I want to have a degree,” Massey said at the time.
As he looked back on his time with DAYS, Massey stated that he “wouldn’t be bitter” if DAYS opted to recast Will because “[t]he character is more important than the actor.”
Last week, NBC announced that it had decided to do just tha and released Massey from his contract so that he would be free to focus on his plans to return to school. TVGuide Magazine’s Michael Logan reports that Massey was “devastated and in tears” when he was called into executive producer Greg Meng’s office and informed that his contract would be terminated early.
Logan states that Days of our Lives executives were unaware of Massey’s plans to exit the show prior to the actor’s June announcement and, in turn, DAYS executives “decided to blindside him back with an early exit.”
“I’m actually glad things went down the way they did,” Massey told Logan. “I appreciate the producers for letting me out of my deal early because I can now pursue other opportunities I couldn’t under contract. And, really, I want what’s best for the show and the character.”
Upon learning that Massey had been let out of his contract early, actor Charlie Sheen took to Twitter and created a firestorm of controversy.
“[H]ey Days of our Lives producers — now your show REALLY sux!! You fired Chandler Massey?? NOW his career begins! He’s a winner. Period the end. His TWO EMMYS speak to that loud and clear,” Sheen wrote, along with off-color references to bestiality.
In a statement, Days of our Lives called the move to release Massey from his contract early a “mutual decision” because a replacement actor had become available. A show source tells soapcentral.com that DAYS had to move fast to secure the new actor because it was unlikely that he’d still be available when Massey’s contract ended.
DAYS did not make available the name of Massey’s successor, and the actor will not immediately report to work because DAYS is currently on a two-week production hiatus.
Massey will continue to air through the end of 2013 due to Days of our Lives’ frenetic production schedule.
That smacks of sensationalism to me. Like justwondering said, it is very common to be let go once you have given a notice. It looks to me like this article was just a means to “stir the pot” a little and create an outrage among fans.
Chandler said he appreciated being let out of his contract early so, what’s the uproar? Although, if he’s leaving, he should really think long and hard about that. How many successful soap actors actually go on to something bigger and better.
I think some of the Days people (Hope, John, Bo, Marlene, etc.) have dipped their toe in the “better opportunities” pool and found it to be not so successful. Deciding to stay where they are and collect a regular paycheck makes sense to me.
I wouldn’t call it being fired, either. He had planned to leave and they found a replacement sooner, rather than later. Days is a business and they have to do what is best for their business. If they felt this other actor would still BR available after December, they would have waited, but obviously that wasn’t the case.
but let’s just say he was let go a lot sooner than expected, and if he was that upset when they called him released him on the spot, it did very much affect him, so to me it just seemed that he was not prepared to leave that suddenly and there was no finality in his notice. He expected to work through the end of his contract. I guess I feel the word “fired” rings true, because the article stated that “Massey was ‘devastated and in tears’ when he was called into executive producer Greg Meng’s office and informed that his contract would be terminated early.”
I like Chandler Massey and I think he is a good actor. I feel that he has improved a great deal since he first started. However, he really earned those emmeys because of the Sl as mucah as his fabulous acting.
He decides to drop a bombshell on everyone and announce that he did not intead to resign his contract at the awards, without notifiying his employer. Did his agent advise him?? Did Charlie Sheen suggest this was the best way to handle this?
This was (I think) Chandler’s first long term acting job. What did he expect would happen? Did he think they would beg him to stay? Was he looking for a better contract? The fact that he was ‘devastated and in tears’ shows that he is young and naive.
I guess he wanted to do it his way, and now he knows that it is a two way street.
I wish him well, but perhaps he needs to grow up and perhaps get better advise on how to handle business matters. One idea might be to tell your boss before you announce to the world that you are quitting!!
As was stated, many have tried to make the jump to night time, most have failed. Hope, Marlena Roman all had nightime gigs and ended up back on daytime.
Well, at the very least HE should have notified TPTB that he planned on announcing that he didn’t plan on re signing. Announcing to the world before he tells his bosses is a slippery slope at least. Since he stated that he wanted to return to school, it would make sense to be free for September session of college.
As for his statement, "I appreciate the producers for letting me out of my deal early because I can now pursue other opportunities I couldn’t under contract" , it doesn’t sound like college, it sounds like work in the industry.
Since he made the decision to leave, they merely let him go early. That happens all the time in business. People give their two week notice, and the company says, "ok, it is not nescessay to stay on, you can go now."
If he really wants to go to school, he should be enrolling now. If he wants to see what else is around, go for it. He now has the reputation of being a good actor, so this is the perfect time. But just a warning, haven’t seen Molly or Jay or Nadia making any splashes in the big time. Only time will tell if it was the right move.
If TPTB found nuWill, then they need to move fast.
You can’t be fired when you have already quit. If he said he wasn’t going to re-sign at the end of his contract, he essentially quit. TPTB just allowed him to “quit” a little sooner.
I just hope he doesn’t regret it. You can always go back to school (if, in fact, that is actually what he intends to do, questionable according to his comments) but you can’t always get a stable job acting like he has/had.
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