Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
What’s In A Name? Devon (Bryton James, r.) shoots down Billy’s (Jason Thompson) rebranding pitch.
Devon’s feathers were ruffled by Billy’s motion to add Abbott to Chancellor-Winters’s name. “Devon thought that it was definitely coming from Billy’s ego,” says Bryton James (Devon). “Billy tried to say this [name change] is what Jill wanted and that Jill feels underrepresented at the company. Devon, Lily, Nate and Jill have had plenty of meetings together and Jill’s never expressed this to them, so Devon isn’t buying it. This is coming from Billy and him wanting to put his stamp on his company and make a name for himself in some way.”
Devon arrives at Chancellor-Winters and informs Billy that he spoke with Lily regarding his request. Billy can sense from Devon’s tone that he’s not going to like what he’s about to hear — and judging by their recent interaction at C-W, Devon also anticipates a conflict. “It was never Devon’s decision to have Billy be a part of the company,” James notes. “He was part of the company originally, then he left, and he also left Lily, and wanted to do his own thing and he’s only back because Lily’s out of town and Jill brought him in. Devon sees Billy as just a temporary placeholder until he goes off and does his own thing again. And so I think Devon’s a bit annoyed by any kind of power plays Billy tries to pull.”
Devon starts off by expressing appreciation for Billy’s sense of legacy when it comes to his family name, then asserts that the Winters siblings feel they already have a strong brand name in place. “They have an established presence in the industry and the [name change] would shake things up too much,” James explains. “The name Abbott is synonymous with [Jabot] and they don’t want to cause confusion, and, again, there’s no reason for this.”
Billy argues that hooking Abbott to Chancellor-Winters will produce a wider reach and even better stability. However, Devon impresses that the decision has been made. “I think Billy’s used to a different dynamic, working with his family and under his brother and his ideas and things getting fast-tracked,” James muses. When Billy still scoffs at what Devon has to say, Devon asks him point-blank about the timing. “Why wasn’t it an issue when they merged and decided on the name to begin with?” James poses. “Billy was right there with Jill working alongside Devon, Lily and Nate when they merged the companies, and this was never an issue. Devon even brings up that Jill ran Chancellor on her own for years and years and never needed to put the Abbot name on the title.”
Devon suggests they table this debate until Lily is back so the three of them can discuss the issue in person — but expect this matter to lead to bigger fireworks. “Devon gets concerned when the stakes are raised a little bit,” James hints. “There’s a new element that gets introduced to the story that he never expected and that kind of shows him that maybe this is a little more serious than just Billy throwing around an idea.”
