Drucilla Winters is a fictional character from the American CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. Created by William J. Bell as an effort to add more African American characters to the cast, the role was portrayed by Victoria Rowell. Rowell left the role in 2000 to pursue other projects and Alexia Robinson was introduced as Alex Perez, a replacement character, shortly after. Rowell later returned in August 2002.
In 2007, Rowell became unhappy with the soap opera behind the scenes, labeling daytime television and The Young and the Restless as racist for not having enough African American cast and crew. She also argued the directions of her storylines which weren't heard, prompting her to leave. Within the storyline, Drucilla fell off a cliff and was presumed dead as her body was never found. Rowell has openly expressed pleasure and willingness to return, and as a result of the character's strong appeal and popularity, viewers have campaigned for the series to rehire her. However, CBS has stated that having Drucilla return is not the creative decision they are looking for, which has disappointed fans of the actress. In 2015, Rowell filed a lawsuit against the soap opera and Sony Pictures Entertainment for retaliation, claiming that she had been blacklisted by the network for speaking out against what she believed was racial discrimination during her time portraying Drucilla.
The character is a ballerina-turned-model, with a forward personality and feisty persona. Introduced in 1990 as a runaway teen and street urchin whose aunt is Mamie Johnson (Veronica Redd), the housekeeper for the Abbott family. Drucilla's storyline revolves around normal soap style rags to riches story beginning as a rough around the edges illiterate young woman, to becoming a glamorous model and later a major business executive and one of the elite citizens of Genoa City. Most of her history also revolves long-term relationship with cosmetics executive later CEO Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) with Dru and Neil becoming one of the main super couples on the show, being raped by Neil's brother, Malcolm (Shemar Moore), which resulted in the birth of a daughter, Lily (Christel Khalil), and on-again/off-again relationship with her sister, Olivia (Tonya Lee Williams). Drucilla's rivalries with Ashley Abbott (Eileen Davidson) and Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford) (the latter often providing the series' comic relief), and friendships with Victor Newman, Jack Abbott, Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) and Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) have also proved popular as plot points.
Casting
Victoria Rowell originated the role on May 7, 1990. Dawn McMillan filled in for Rowell while she was on maternity leave from January 26 to February 9, 1996. Rowell left the show on April 2, 1998. She came back for a recurring gig from February to September 2000. During this time, Kent Masters King assumed the role for several episodes. That same year, Rowell chose to exit the soap opera again in order to star in a Showtime miniseries. She returned to the role in August 2002, after a two-year absence.
Drucilla's exit in 2007 was not without controversy. She was unhappy about her character, and voiced her opinion about it. Ultimately, Rowell opted to be let out of her regular contract. Months after Drucilla's death, Rowell had an interview with Black Press Magazine. She explained her reasonings for leaving: "We have the most popular daytime show and the number one show for African Americans, hands down. Yet, there are no black writers, there are no black producers, there are no black directors. There are no Black make up artists. There are no Black hairstylists." Rowell went on to say that to get any attention or recognition, she had to write her own script for it to be comfortable with her. She had pointed out signs of racism, as she was a top actress for her work on The Young and the Restless yet had failed to secure many Daytime Emmy Nominations, and never won once. Rowell even expressed her displeasure with the situation on social networking site Twitter, too. In an interview with Soap Opera Digest prior to her final airdate, Rowell stated:
In the same interview, she had revealed that accomplished and central actors on the soap opera such as Eric Braeden, who portrays Victor Newman, had asked her to stay. Rowell said that she tweaked her script to give Dru a voice, but explained that "everything happens for a reason and where I couldn't exercise that particular artistic expression with Y&R." Since her departure, speculation has arisen multiple times that Rowell would return at some point, but this has never materialized.