- - - Daytime Emmy Winner Breaks 'Forbidden' Rule While Judging Controversial Category

Johnathon KornbleeJuly 20, 2025 at 5:10 AM

Daytime Emmy Winner Breaks 'Forbidden' Rule While Judging Controversial Category originally appeared on Parade.

It appears not all of the drama happening at the upcoming 52nd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards is taking place on screen. One recent Emmy winner found themselves doing something ‘forbidden’ as a judge in what turned out to be one of the ceremony’s most talked-about and controversial categories.

On July 11th The Official Emmy’s X (formerly Twitter) account posted a thread of Frequently Asked Questions in regard to the Daytime Emmys. In that thread they posted, “3) NATAS judges are forbidden from talking about what specific categories they served on or their opinions of the material they reviewed (personally, privately, social media etc). They are assigned based on their areas of expertise, and watched and scored each submission.”

Meanwhile, on Instagram, Daytime Emmy Winner and 2025 Nominee, General Hospital star, Kate Mansi took to her story and posted a screenshot of the Deadline article announcing the Daytime Emmy nominations. She specifically highlighting the controversial 'Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama Series' category and wrote, "I was so lucky to judge this impossible category and so proud of each of these women, and friends!"

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The category has been heavily criticized by Days of Our Lives fans, and fellow actors, who expected to see Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award winner Susan Seaforth Hayes included when the list was announced. The actress had endured an especially difficult year following the passing of her husband Bill Hayes. Something anyone would struggle with. Her grief was multiplied by the fact that Bill also portrayed her on-screen love interest on the Peacock streaming soap opera, so not only did she have to mourn the loss of her husband in real life, but also deal with his loss on the show.

As the announcements were being made, Amy Jean Shaughnessy took to X to say, “I’m gonna have something to say if Susan Seaforth Hayes isn’t nominated for a @DaytimeEmmys this year…..” A longtime Days of Our Lives fan and active social media user Steven asked Shaughnessy what category Hayes submitted for, as the actress could’ve submitted for either Lead or Supporting. The user asked, “What category did she submit for? I before I burn this place down.” To which Shaughnessy responded, “We submitted her for Lead Actress, because this year’s material was Lead Actress material.”

Hayes has since released a statement, thanking her fans, and supporting the women who were nominated.

Mansi was nominated herself for "Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series" for her work on General Hospital as Kristina Corinthos-Davis.

Parade did not immediately hear back when requesting a comment.

The Daytime Emmy’s will take place on October 17, 2025.

Daytime Emmy Winner Breaks 'Forbidden' Rule While Judging Controversial Category first appeared on Parade on Jul 20, 2025

This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 20, 2025, where it first appeared.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”