January 5, 2011 08:16 AM PDT

Blind Item: Popular Soap Abruptly Fires Actor, Rewrites Mystery Arc

Get More: Blind Item, Scoop

Michael Ausiello

This Blind Item has been burning a hole in my pocket during my two-month winter hibernation… er, career transition. A seasoned and extremely well-known actor who had a recurring role on a popular primetime soap was canned after several show staffers — both the on-camera kind and off — voiced complaints about the star’s unprofessional behavior while at work.

Apparently, the onetime big-screen A-lister (who over the past decade carved a niche for himself on the small screen) was making inappropriate comments to a number of women. At the risk of having the situation escalate, producers abruptly wrote out the actor, which forced them to tweak a major crime story/mystery in which his character was revealed to be the culprit. Now word is, the bad boy has been forever banned from appearing on any of this network’s shows.

So, who’s the blacklisted vet? Submit your best guesses below!

Want Scoop and Spoilers Sent Directly to Your In-Box? Sign Up for the TVLine Newsletter Now!

Comments (147)

Gossip Girl –> Billy Baldwin?

My rationale:

1. Gossip Girl is a popular primetime soap.

2. Billy Baldwin is a Baldwin brother, and therefore likely to make inappropriate comments toward women.
Comment by Andy – January 5, 2011 08:21 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I thought Billy Baldwin was making a reappearance on Gossip Girl?
  Comment by Peng9803 – January 5, 2011 08:24 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- No Billy is coming back to gossip later this season
  Comment by andrew – January 5, 2011 08:25 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Billy Baldwin would never be considered a former A list actor.
  Comment by Travis – January 5, 2011 08:28 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I have no idea who it is, but I don’t think it is Billy.
  Comment by Rolfe – January 5, 2011 09:53 AM PDT Reply To This Post
No idea. I’m just thrilled your Blind Items are back!!
Comment by Jennifer – January 5, 2011 08:22 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I agree, Jennifer!
  Comment by Beth – January 5, 2011 08:37 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Amen to that
  Comment by Sourabh – January 5, 2011 11:03 AM PDT Reply To This Post
James Franco.
Comment by Me – January 5, 2011 08:22 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- It says Primetime soap. Not Franco.
  Comment by Mira – January 5, 2011 08:26 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- i was thinking the same thing…james franco
  Comment by me2 – January 5, 2011 08:28 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Franco is on a daytime soap, not primetime. And his character is back on GH in February to set up a longer arc for 2011
  Comment by Meg – January 5, 2011 11:16 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I’m guessing someone on the Desperate Housewives set is touchy feely…but really I’m just stumped! Tell us!!!!!
Comment by Luke – January 5, 2011 08:24 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I’d agree with this but the blind item says former A-lister so know i’m stumped
  Comment by jess – January 5, 2011 10:44 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Let’s go with Jack Wagner of B&B
Comment by Jake – January 5, 2011 08:25 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- PRIMETIME soap
  not daytime
  Comment by andrew – January 5, 2011 08:26 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Sorry, my mistake
    Comment by Jake – January 5, 2011 08:27 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I’m going with Rob Lowe.
Comment by Betsy – January 5, 2011 08:25 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- P&R is not a Prime Time soap, and I highly doubt they would have a murder mystery unless it was a game…
  Comment by Chrissy – January 5, 2011 08:44 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Ah true.

So I’m guessing this already TOOK place? Then Rob Lowe might be a good guess.

And Michael: will U ever reveal ur blind items?
Comment by Jake – January 5, 2011 08:27 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Rob Lowe!
Comment by Melissa – January 5, 2011 08:28 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- There was no murder mystery on Brother and Sisters that he was abrubtly written off the show by making him the culprit. He was written off b/c he died as a result of a car accident. Since he was on Brother and Sisters prior to Parks and Recreation, i would say it sure isn’t him
  Comment by tory – January 5, 2011 09:24 AM PDT Reply To This Post
It’s that victor Newman guy from yr
Comment by jacqulynmcc – January 5, 2011 08:29 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- It’s Primetime..not Daytime.
  Comment by Tali – January 5, 2011 09:35 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Rob Lowe is my guess, too. Any guy who makes a sex video with an underage girl is always suspect in my book.
Comment by Kiki – January 5, 2011 08:30 AM PDT Reply To This Post
James Franco is a good guess but you said “primetime soap.” Blind Items are stupid so I guess we will never know the answer to this one.
Comment by Joseph – January 5, 2011 08:30 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Rob Lowe wasn’t recurring on B&S. He was regular cast after his initial recurring role in season 1.
Comment by Travis – January 5, 2011 08:30 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Eric Roberts – he was playing Vance on Y&R and poof…he was gone
Comment by Kate Astor – January 5, 2011 08:31 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Not Eric Roberts. He’s from a daytime soap, and he left Y&R because he’s in “rehab” (Dr Drew’s reality show rehab, lol)
  Comment by Danielle – January 5, 2011 08:34 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- oh, geez, how many dyslexic patients!
  
  primetime soap
  onetime big-screen A-lister
  who over the past decade carved a niche for himself on the small screen
  Comment by halem – January 5, 2011 08:38 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Rob Lowe is on Parks and Rec now, a comedy. And he was killed off Brothers and Sisters last season, so I don’t think it’s him.
Comment by Cari – January 5, 2011 08:31 AM PDT Reply To This Post
The actors description sounds alot like Rob Lowe to me.
onetime big-screen A-lister – check
over the past decade carved a niche for himself on the small screen – check
bad boy – check

the trouble is I can’t see where he fits with the soap part..

2nd option is Bryan Austin Green, but then again he was never an A lister

perhaps someone on Greys
Comment by iva – January 5, 2011 08:32 AM PDT Reply To This Post
If this is from awhile back it could be Ryan O’Neal (Teddy’s dad on 90210). I know that a couple cast members from that show had mentioned in interviews that he was originally supposed to involved in the car accident storyline that killed Jasper’s uncle, but things changed.
Comment by George – January 5, 2011 08:35 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I think this has more merit than just repeating ROB LOWE over and over again…i think you might be right
  Comment by amy – January 5, 2011 08:49 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- this makes the most since of any theory listed yet…….
  Comment by tory – January 5, 2011 09:30 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I think this is the best guest thus far. I hope you are wrong though. I would love to watch a scene between Teddy and his dad later this season when he finally comes out.
  Comment by Rolfe – January 5, 2011 10:01 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Actually I don’t think it could be him. “in which his character was revealed to be the culprit.” *puts thinking cap on.*
    Comment by Rolfe – January 5, 2011 10:03 AM PDT Reply To This Post
    - Originally, I think Annie was supposed to have just run over an already dead person. So Papa Montgomery having hit the guy and left him in the road DOES make sense in that context.
      
      But he was also on Bones and wasn’t really written out. The episode he should have been in taped right after Farrah’s death.
      Comment by Kelly – January 5, 2011 11:54 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I think George is right. I read an article about how Teddy’s dad was the real hit and run driver: http://www.movieline.com/2010/06/exclusive-heres-the-major-plot-twist-cut-from-the-90210-finale.php.
  
  Also, Ryan O’Neal meets the criteria Ausiello sets out above.
  Comment by Paul – January 5, 2011 11:27 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Maybe Kyle McLachlan on Desperate Housewives?
Comment by Dave – January 5, 2011 08:35 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I don’t think it’s KM. Desperate Housewives just brought him back for another episode long after his storyline had run, and I can’t think of any plots for which he would have been a logical choice as the culprit.
  Comment by Jen – January 5, 2011 08:41 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - There is the mystery now of who shot Paul Young – so KM is a possible suspect in this blind item – but was he an A-list big screen star? Showgirls and Dune?
    Comment by brian – January 5, 2011 08:56 AM PDT Reply To This Post
    - yeah its the A-lister part that has me stumped
      Comment by jess – January 5, 2011 10:46 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Well first we have to look at the clue of “former big screen A-lister” – there aren’t too many of those around in primetime – Gary Sinese is one name to throw out – but is CSI a soap? Patrick Dempsey is a consideration – Grey’s is absolutely a soap – but was he an A-list star?
Richard Dryfuss was recently on Weeds – he was an A-list star.
Comment by Brian – January 5, 2011 08:38 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Sinese and Dempsey are stars of the show, not recurring roles.
  Comment by Travis – January 5, 2011 08:44 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- I don’t think Richard Dreyfuss has carved a niche for himself on the small screen, has he?
  Comment by Sue – January 5, 2011 01:28 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I can see the Rob Lowe connection, but I wouldn’t classify Parks and Rec as a Primetime Soap…
Comment by Doug – January 5, 2011 08:41 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Definitely Ryan O’Neal on 90210. They spent a long time trying to cast Teddy’s dad and then he just suddenly vanished without a trace. And he was originally supposed to be the hit and run driver, but that whole aspect of the storlyine was dropped. Plus, 90210 is a PRIMETIME soap, Ryan O’Neal used to be an A-list movie star, and he’s spent the last several years working on TV. Also, he tried to hit on a woman at Farrah Fawcett’s funeral…a woman who turned out to be his own daughter. Clearly the guy is slimey with women.
Comment by M – January 5, 2011 08:42 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- it says the character was revealed to be the culprit of the crime/mystery. annie was the culprit from the beginning
  Comment by dd – January 5, 2011 09:00 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - No, it was pinned on Annie from the beginning.
    The article states that this person was going to be revealed to be the actual/culprit, which makes 100% sense. I think it’s Ryan O’Neil too, it all completely adds up why they totally botched their season finale and scrapped everything about it!
    Comment by Kyle – January 5, 2011 09:01 AM PDT Reply To This Post
    - read it again. it says the person was revealed not going to be revealed. also, what kind of niche has ryan oneil carved out on tv? so not ryan oneil!
      Comment by dd – January 5, 2011 09:11 AM PDT Reply To This Post
      - Could be O’Neil. He’s was also a frequent guest star on Bones.
        Comment by HoldenC. – January 5, 2011 09:24 AM PDT
      - You’re misunderstanding it. It says they had to tweak a storyline in which the character was revealed to be culprit. The storyline was tweaked so that someone else was revealed as the culprit.
        Comment by M – January 5, 2011 10:04 AM PDT
      - This may be a stretch, but RO’N got his start in television as one of the leads on Peyton Place (in the ’60s). He co-starred with Farrah Fawcett in a short-lived tv sitcom about co-anchors on a news show. I’m not sure if this is a “niche,” but it is a presence.
        Comment by Media Ho – January 5, 2011 11:56 AM PDT
- And before Bones and 90210 he did that show with Alicia Silverstone and James Roday on NBC.
  Comment by Sara – January 5, 2011 03:38 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Alec Baldwin?
Comment by Sean – January 5, 2011 08:43 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- star of the show, not recurring, show not a soap either…
  Comment by Travis – January 5, 2011 08:44 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Rob Lowe was my first thought, but he managed to go through all those years on West Wing without any controversy, so…
Comment by Kristin – January 5, 2011 08:45 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Perhaps Billy Baldwin on Gossip Girl although he’s also been appearing on Parenthood which I can’t foresee having a murder plotline.

Also it’s an a-lister who has carved out a niche for himself in the past decade on the small screen. I don’t think that describes BB…I’ll keep thinking!
Comment by stephanie – January 5, 2011 08:47 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I was thinking Alec Baldwin, but 30 rock isn’t really a primetime soap (is it? I don’t watch).

Hope to hear who it is!
Comment by Melissa Brown – January 5, 2011 08:47 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- He recurred on Knots landing, and he is more an A- Lister than the other choices, alas 30 rock wouldnt be a crime/mystery show
  Comment by Sean – January 5, 2011 09:07 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Lol, Yes, Rob Lowe is the culprit on a huge Parks and Recreation crime mystery….come on peeps.
Comment by Stephanie – January 5, 2011 08:52 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I think you hit the nail on the head with Ryan O’Neal!
Comment by Melissa – January 5, 2011 08:59 AM PDT Reply To This Post
This is SO Ryan O’Neal.

Quit guessing Rob Lowe, it doesn’t fit, for heaven sake!
Comment by LA – January 5, 2011 09:01 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- can’t be. he was never revealed to be the culprit it was annie from the beginning.
  Comment by dd – January 5, 2011 09:03 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - Ryan O’Neal also plays Brennan’s dad on “Bones” and did murder folks in that role…
    Comment by mrdhollins – January 5, 2011 09:25 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - People are reading it wrong. It’s saying:
    
    “which forced them to tweak a major crime story/mystery in which his character was revealed to be the culprit.”
    
    Meaning, the plan was to after a season of making it look like Annie was made to look the killer of Jasper’s uncle, it would finally come out it was Teddy’s dad, aka: Ryan O’ Neal’s character. However, because of his behavior it forced the producers to scrap him and tweak that storyline where he was going to be revealed as thing, therefore they just kept it as Annie.
    
    Makes perfect sense.
    Comment by Kyle – January 5, 2011 10:28 AM PDT Reply To This Post
when i think ryan o’neal, i think bones.. they were full of praises for him. 90210 cast isn’t big enough to get anyone kicked off from their show,not to mention network..could be anyone
Comment by iva – January 5, 2011 09:07 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Of course they’re big enough if a cast member is sexually harassing other people working on the show. If it was Ryan O’Neil then a pat on the back for the CW for taking it seriously.
  
  Having said that – it bothers me to think that we’re speculating on this and an innocent actor’s reputation might be unfairly tarnished if we reach the wrong conclusion. Then again I’m the one reading and commenting on this article, so I guess I should stop complaining.
  Comment by Ellen – January 5, 2011 09:14 AM PDT Reply To This Post
  - world is unfortunately not that nice. we can claim we’ve gangbanged a heard of horses with Rob Lowe and it still won’t matter till someone with credibility (or National Enquirer ) prints it
    Comment by iva – January 5, 2011 11:15 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Hmm, Donald Sutherland (Kiefer’s dad) was on Dirty Sexy Money. Was definitely an A-lister in the 70′s (MASH, Ordinary People, Klute). Now on Pillars of the Earth, but on cable.
Comment by Rock Golf – January 5, 2011 09:08 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Is 90210 a POPULAR primetime soap?
I never would have tapped RO’N as an A-list star, and this article indicates the star has Recently been fired and the Writers have had to tweek the storyline – not past tense as in they had to tweek last seasons storyline.
Comment by brian – January 5, 2011 09:09 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Ryan O’Neal absolutely was an A-Lister at one point. Main Event, What’s Up Doc, Love Story, Paper Moon….all big movies.
  Comment by Erin – January 5, 2011 11:22 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Do we ever get the answers to the blind items?
Comment by Erin – January 5, 2011 09:20 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Ausiello does answer more than a few of the blind items — but he doesn’t answer *all* of them. Depends on how big a bridge he might burn with a source (because the nature of the rumor might be so specific that it could be traced from the other side by the subject of the rumor or someone else involved in the given show) or a studio/network and/or if there’s a serious legal issue involved. It’s safe to say, though, that *if* he reveals the identity of a Blind Item, it’s been cleared not just by Legal at his employer, it’s been cleared by his source — and maybe even unofficially by the network/studio in a plausible deniability sort of way.
  Comment by Rob J. – January 5, 2011 11:35 AM PDT Reply To This Post
I’m thinking lawrence fishburne. Csi? Is that his name?
Comment by michelle – January 5, 2011 09:32 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Tom Selleck, perhaps?
Comment by Jeremy – January 5, 2011 09:35 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Hell no!
  Comment by Sue – January 5, 2011 01:30 PM PDT Reply To This Post
David Spade…..is my guess
Comment by Joshua Stevens – January 5, 2011 09:43 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Learn to read people. Can’t be Selleck, Spade or Fishburne, as they are regulars, not recurring; plus Spade is in a comedy, and Fishburne & Selleck’s shows cannot be described as “soaps.”
Comment by Ms N – January 5, 2011 09:58 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Since most of these guesses are outrageous, I’m just going to throw Rumer Willis into the mix.

What ever happened to Rumer’s character on 90210? lol
Comment by Rolfe – January 5, 2011 10:05 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Peter Gallagher???
Comment by stavs – January 5, 2011 10:25 AM PDT Reply To This Post
The only thing worse than rarely (if ever) getting the answers to these blind items are the people who reply with such ridiculous guesses. It clearly says former movie A-lister with a recurring role on a primetime soap and people are guessing actors from daytime soaps or primetime comedies or people who haven’t been fired or stars of their shows.
Comment by Buffy Freak – January 5, 2011 10:28 AM PDT Reply To This Post
My only problem with it being Ryan O’Neal is that Ausiello says he’s been holding on this for a mere couple months. Ryan O’Neal has been off of 90210 since before the end of the last season. But I will admit that it does make some sense…

TVGuide.com: Why did the ending of last season change? Annie was supposed to have been exonerated from running over the homeless man… but she wound up truly being guilty of it.
Grimes: Yet another fun fact that our writers didn’t fill us in on before we all started running our mouths! Basically, what happened is that Teddy’s father, played by Ryan O’Neal, was supposed to come in and take the onus off of Annie. I don’t know if you remember this far back, but in the original finale of Season 1, when I hit the guy, you see a car pull up at the end. In the premiere of Season 2, we pick up that it was Teddy’s car that pulled up right after I hit the guy. What was supposed to happen was Teddy going back to save his dad’s ass and make sure there was no evidence because it was his dad who killed the guy while driving drunk. But then Ryan O’Neal wasn’t going to be on the show anymore, so that changed and Annie’s ass got probation.

I think Ausiello miswrote “At the risk of having the situation escalate, producers abruptly wrote out the actor, which forced them to tweak a major crime story/mystery in which his character was [add: TO BE] revealed [to be - changed to AS] the culprit”
Comment by Peng9803 – January 5, 2011 10:35 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Well Ryan O’Neill may have been on the show last season, but Ausiello may have only gotten the scoop a couple of months ago.
  Comment by M – January 5, 2011 03:17 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Can we at least have a list of shows that you would consider primetime soaps?? That would be helpful .. **wink,wink**
Comment by Kristen – January 5, 2011 10:42 AM PDT Reply To This Post
John Stamos is my bad guess!
Comment by Jenn – January 5, 2011 10:42 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- Oooh, I guess we’ll see if Dr Carl is back on Glee.
  Comment by Kelly – January 5, 2011 11:58 AM PDT Reply To This Post
George’s answer for the win! Ryan O’Neal must have been pretty pervy for them to blackball him.
Comment by Cincy – January 5, 2011 11:01 AM PDT Reply To This Post
Working it backwards, it makes sense that if a network was going to ban a person from all of its shows entirely for inappropriate behavior, it’d be The CW that would do that. With young women being the stars of virtually every show on the next except Supernatural (and arguably Smallville, even though it’s guy-centric this season), the ban-ee would be an issue on every one of the network’s shows that he could possibly be considered for.

It also helps that the CW is the only network whose parent studios (in this case, CBS and Warner) currently produce all of the shows on the network, a situation that would make banning the given actor
from the network’s entire lineup more easily enforceable than it would be on any of the Big Four networks, which all carry series from both parent- and non-parent-studios.

From there, the network-wide ban plus the fact that the whodunnit story change tracks to the 90210 cliffhanger — it all clearly equals Ryan O’Neal on 90210. Given the ease of guess the subject from both ends, I would hazard a guess that this is one of those Blind Items that Ausiello will eventually confirm.
Comment by Rob J. – January 5, 2011 11:54 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- When was there ever a whodunit on 90210? Am I forgetting something? What cliffhanger?
  Comment by Rolfe – January 5, 2011 12:11 PM PDT Reply To This Post
I think it’s Kyle Mclaughlin. He is a recurring charachter, a former A-lister, on a prime time soap, which is in the middle of a murder mystery. Seems to fit the bill…
Comment by Gregg – January 5, 2011 11:59 AM PDT Reply To This Post
- But Kyle just reappeared on the show.
  Comment by Rolfe – January 5, 2011 12:09 PM PDT Reply To This Post
  - And also, Paul Young isn’t dead (and isn’t even in critical condition), so there is no murder mystery going on right now. And Orson (Kyle’s character) really doesn’t have a motive to shoot Paul, anyway, because he wasn’t even around when all of Paul Young’s shenanigans really went haywire. He had already left Wisteria Lane by then. One of Lynnett’s kids has a better chance of being the shooter than Orson.
    
    Also, KM has never been an A-List movie star, his niche has always been television.
    Comment by Cheryl – January 5, 2011 01:36 PM PDT Reply To This Post
It’s definitely Ryan O’Neal on 90210.

To quote Ausiello’s frenemy, Kristin Dos Santos:

“What Went Missing: Ummm, how about the whole “who really ran over that homeless guy” storyline?! Back in March, Trevor told us the season two finale would answer the question left open from season one’s final ep. “In one of the last scenes of the finale, you find out who actually hit the homeless guy,” he teased. “I can guarantee it comes out of left field.”

But come finale night, the only thing remotely left fieldish was the complete exclusion of said reveal. How do you explain that one, CW?!

According to our reliable 90210 source, some story changes were made post-production (and post-press tour in Trevor’s case), and the rumored “real” killer twist was canned.”

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b183650_what_heck_happened_mind-blowing_90210.html
Comment by Zub – January 5, 2011 12:27 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Could it be John Corbett (soon to appear on Parenthood)?
Comment by Dee – January 5, 2011 12:27 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Y’all have me convinced this is Ryan O’Neal.
Comment by echo – January 5, 2011 01:40 PM PDT Reply To This Post
im gonna go with jeff goldblum. i know its unlikely, but who knows nowadays.
Comment by silverrose – January 5, 2011 02:09 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Tom Selleck on Blue Bloods?
Comment by Ethan Maisel – January 5, 2011 02:12 PM PDT Reply To This Post
Ryan O’Neil fits the bill and that homeless hit and run thing was supposed to have a twist…but that means that he was fired last spring…kinda long ago.
Comment by irg19 – January 5, 2011 03:09 PM PDT Reply To This Post

1 2 Next › Last »(2 pages)

Blind Item: Popular Soap Abruptly Fires Actor, Rewrites Mystery Arc

Comments (147)

Post a Comment Cancel reply

Today's Hottest Stories

MovieLine

DeadLine

BGR

HollywoodLife