Backstage Shakeup at The Young and the Restless: Executive Producer Steps Down
Josh Griffith is stepping down as executive producer at The Young and Restless, a title he has held since 2023. He will remain with the soap as its head writer, but Sally McDonald, who has been the co-executive producer at Y&R since 2025, will now be the sole executive producer of the soap.
Changing of the Guard
The news of Griffith’s exit as EP was first reported by Soap Central, and has subsequently been confirmed by Soap Opera Digest. Griffith made the decision to step down in order to focus on his writing duties for the show.
Griffith began his daytime career as a writer for the NBC sudser Santa Barbara in 1988 and co-created Sunset Beach in 1997. He has also written and/or head-written for One Life to Live, As the World Turns, and General Hospital. Griffith began writing for Y&R from 2006-08 and returned as head writer from 2012-13. After working as co-head writer for Days of Our Lives from 2015-16, Griffith returned to Y&R as a supervising producer. He resumed head writing duties in 2019, and became executive producer again four years later. Over the years, Griffith has earned seven Daytime Emmy Awards for his writing and producing of the different soaps.
McDonald began working as a director at Y&R back in 1996, and became a producer in 2008. She worked as a supervising producer from 2011-12, and returned to the soap in 2025 as co-executive producer. During the course of her time in Genoa City, McDonald has earned eight Daytime Emmy Awards as part of the directing team, as well as a Directors Guild of America Award.
Created by husband and wife team William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell back in 1973, Y&R rose to the top of the Nielsen ratings in 1988 and has remained the top-rated daytime drama ever since as viewers continue tuning in to see the latest drama in Genoa City involving the Newmans, Abbotts, Winters, and more.
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