Soap opera fans are accustomed to outlandish plot twists, but some storylines are beyond the pale, and some off-screen developments aren’t acceptable to viewers and even to stars of the daytime drama themselves.
From romances with abusive origins to widely-reviled network decisions and even a demonic possession, here’s a timeline of our selections for the biggest soap controversies ever. Warning: The following post contains discussions of sexual assault storylines.
1981: General Hospital weds Luke Spencer and Laura Webber after he raped her
General Hospital’s Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) and Laura Webber (Genie Francis) were a soap supercouple whose 1981 wedding episode drew 30 million viewers, but those nuptials came after a 1979 installment in which Luke rapes Laura.
Everett Collection
“[Executive producer] Gloria Monty tried to deal with it by calling it rape-seduction,” Francis said in the 2020 TV special The Story of Soaps, per People. “The term now would be date rape. The night of the rape, Luke’s last request was to dance with him, and the dance became very seductive. He took her down to the floor, and that is the rape.”
She added, “It was such a big deal in the media, and it took the country by storm. I’ve had to justify it for so many years, and I have to say, it feels good to sit here and say I won’t justify it. It’s awful. They shouldn’t have done it.”
1995: Days of Our Lives’ Marlena Evans is possessed by the devil
Days of Our Lives fans cringe to remember the 1995 story arc in which Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) became possessed by the devil. In her demonic form, Marlena levitated over her bed, torched a church, attacked a priest, and sent a chandelier crashing down on a couple at the altar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH7Uev8ZRog
Entertainment Weekly’s Alan Carter called the storyline a “silly, mind-numbing mess,” adding: “To the writers of Days of Our Lives: Congratulations! You’ve managed to wrest away the title Dumbest Soap Plot Ever from One Life to Live, which gave us the ludicrous underground city Eterna back in the mid-’80s. Your possession of Marlena by the Devil makes the Eterna debacle look like Citizen Kane.”
2005: One Life to Live makes Daniel Colson turn to murder to hide his sexuality
GLAAD honored One Life to Live in 2005 for its depiction of gay characters, but just weeks later, the organization condemned the soap for a narrative involving Daniel Colson (Mark Dobies). In the storyline, Daniel murdered two people to keep his identity as a gay man secret.
“A story about a man who kills because he is gay only reinforces the idea that being gay is something to be ashamed of,” Damon Romine, then entertainment media director for GLAAD, said at the time, per the Tampa Bay Times. “It’s a tired stereotype that internalized homophobia explodes into murder.”
2008: One Life to Live has Marty Saybrook seduced by Todd Manning, her rapist
In a 1993 episode of One Life to Live, Todd Manning (Roger Howarth, pictured below) was one of the men who gang-raped Marty Saybrook (Susan Haskell). And in 2008, the show had an amnesiac Marty sleep with Todd (then played by Trevor St. John), not remembering he had sexually assaulted her years prior. (It gets worse: Between those two plot points, ABC had to issue an apology after selling a Todd Manning rag doll as merchandise.)
Craig Sjodin/ABC
“Disgusting doesn’t begin to describe this descent into exploitation and audience insult,” columnist Marlena De Lacroix wrote of the 2008 twist. “What I think it really may be about is hatred of women. What woman would want to watch another woman who has been raped, then because the victim suffers from a convenient case of amnesia, be lured into the rapist’s lair, encouraged by her rapist to fall in love with him, and then beg him to make love to her?”
2011: ABC cancels All My Children and One Life to Live in one fell swoop
The American Broadcasting Company became the biggest soap opera villain in 2011 when it canceled All My Children and One Life to Live on the same day, ending the former’s broadcast run after 41 years and the latter’s after 43. Adding insult to injury, ABC replaced OLTL with The Revolution, a talk show that lasted just six months.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txo_XTqzzOo
In a HuffPost column, television critic Ed Martin blasted the network for the “arrogance inherent in the action of announcing both cancellations at once,” the “apparent failure of a major global entertainment content company to explore innovative alternatives to those cancellations,” and the “fact that hundreds of people (many of whom were encouraged just a year and a half ago to uproot their lives in New York City and relocate to Los Angeles when ABC moved AMC from coast to coast) are losing their jobs as our economy further deteriorates.”
2022: Days of Our Lives moves to Peacock
NBCUniversal angered fans in 2022 by taking Days of Our Lives off NBC, where it was free to watch by anyone with a TV set and an antenna, and moving it to Peacock, a streaming platform with a monthly subscription fee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g8nqNh_Aaw
“I already have to pay for cable to get my TV. Now you want me to pay to watch my show on an app that I don’t fully understand, that I don’t have the money to pay for and I probably won’t watch anything else on?” one viewer remarked to the Los Angeles Times. “They’re discounting the people that made the show what it is.”
2023: Days co-executive producer Albert Alarr is fired after sexual misconduct investigation
Albert Alarr was terminated from his job directing and co-executive-producing Days of Our Lives in 2023 after being investigated for allegations that included inappropriate comments, groping, forceful kissing, and the creation of a toxic workplace environment, per Deadline. He denied the accusations.
Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Days Of Our Lives
The following year, former Days star Arianne Zucker (Nicole Walker) filed suit against the soap’s producers, alleging she faced retaliation after complaining about Alarr’s behavior. Her suit was settled in 2025, according to the Los Angeles Times.
If you or someone you know is the victim of sexual assault, contact the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). If you or a loved one is in immediate danger, call 911.
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