Former 'The Young and the Restless' Actress Victoria Rowell To File Complaint in Federal Court Against CBS, Sony Pictures Claiming Denied Re-Employment

Victoria Rowell

Former The Young and the Restless star Victoria Rowell is filing a complaint in federal court against CBS, Sony Pictures Television and other defendants claiming that she was denied re-employment on the highest rated daytime soap opera in the country in retaliation for her public and private complaints regarding the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera on the show. The lawsuit was announced on Wednesday morning in a press release sent to the media along with an invitation to attend a press conference on Thursday, February 12 at 11 a.m. ET.

Rowell became the "first African American female with a leading role on The Young and the Restless in 1990" when she brought to life the role of Drucilla Barber Winters. She "reluctantly left the show in 2007 after facing years of racial discrimination" that are described in the complaint. During her tenure she won eleven NAACP Image Awards and received two Daytime Emmy Award nominations.

Grit & Escape Announce Licensing Agreement with Sony Pictures Television for 150 Feature Films

The newly-launched male-centric and female-centric over-the-air broadcast television networks -- Grit (For Men) and Escape (For Women) -- have concluded a multi-year licensing agreement with Sony Pictures Television (SPT) for television rights to 150 demo-targeted motion pictures, it was announced today.

This is the fourth major multi-year film licensing agreement for Grit and Escape, both of which came on the air on August 18. The two networks also recently acquired the television rights to 135 demo-targeted motion pictures from Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, 157 motion pictures from NBCUniversal Television & New Media Distribution, U.S. & Canada and nearly 200 demo-targeted motion pictures from Paramount Pictures.

"This Sony package adds to our already-impressive line-up of theatricals, featuring some of the greatest movies ever made with legendary stars giving award-winning and memorable performances. They will be very popular with the target demos of both Grit and Escape," commented Jonathan Katz, President and CEO of Katz Broadcasting, parent company of the two new networks.