Image Credit: Emiley Schweich/PR Photos; Albert L. Ortega/PR PhotosEric Braeden to Neil Patrick Harris: You don’t know who you’re dealing with, young whippersnapper! After the star of How I Met Your Mother posted a message via his Twitter account calling the The Young and the Restless actor a “D-bag” for failing to make good on a promise to reprise his role as Robin’s dad on the CBS comedy, Braeden talked exclusively to EW about the comment and what prompted him to skip Thursday’s taping.
“I really don’t know who that fellow is. He’s a guy who stars in that series,” Braeden told EW, laughing. “It’s very unfortunate. First of all, I came back from hip surgery. I was off for three weeks. I’ve doubled my work, 30 to 50 pages a day for me, alone. Everyone knows that I’m exhausted. I was not about to appear on a show for two lines, because that’s what it amounted to.”
On his Twitter feed, Harris said, “Eric Braeden is a D-Bag. The actor, (Robin’s dad) agreed to a cameo, then last night bailed, saying the part wasn’t ‘substantial’ enough.” The reason for his so-called bailing? Braeden said he only learned about the size of his part the day before the taping, which he considered unreasonable. (He believes he should have been given the scripts weeks in advance).
Braeden originally agreed to take the gig because he enjoyed his first appearance on the CBS comedy in November 2008. “I truly enjoyed working there last time,” Braeden said. “The cast and crew and producers couldn’t have been nicer.”
As for Harris, “His choice of words bothered me,” Braeden added. “It seems to me like a young whippersnapper, having seen himself on a few covers, who’s received a few awards, is now suddenly suffering from the first signs of hubris. I’ve been in the business for 50 years. I’ve seen people come and go and I’m still here.”
Braeden ultimately laughed off the whole situation. “If he is a worthy adversary, he’d better not cross my path. I will let bygones be bygones.”
It looks like Harris feels the same way. Three hours after his initial Twitter post, he added this comment: “Now I feel bad for the D-bag comment. Don’t know the guy personally. I’m just fiercely protective of our show.” Harris also said via Twitter that the role was re-cast with Ray Wise, “a fantastic actor who makes any part ‘substantial’. Super excited to welcome him to the family.”
Braeden will appear on CBS’ The Talk on Jan. 14.
DING DING DING!
Let the fights begin!
How I Met your mother is yuppie garbage – and NPH is overrated and overexposed, how many award shows can someone host? He is not as funny as he thinks he is
You hit it right on the effing nose.
Thank you I agree
I quit watching HIMYM because of Harris. I got tired of “The Barney Show”.
Mr. Harris is so impressed with his own press, that his bloated head leads him to think that he can insult an established actor with many more years of experience. Whether you like Eric Braeden or not, no one deserves to be treated in such a immature and demeaning manner. People will soon get sick of Mr. Harris, who has to his credit a couple of bad sitcoms, and then I hope someone treats him the same way.
Mr. Braeden from a soap operas? Really? A…soap opera? A SOAP OPERA? My plant could act in a soap opera. I get it there are people who don’t like this sitcom. But a soap opera? A soap opera… SOAP…opera…
I definitely agree. I don’t hate HIMYM But I think NPH is incredibly overrated.
@Pete
You are so ignorant its amazing. Soaps may not always be the best written genre of television but the amount of work those actors put forth (especially someone like Eric who is on it every day) is incredible. They shoot 300 episodes a year, must learn 50 pages of dialogue the day before they shoot, shoot 16 hour days, and rarely get time off. I am willing to bet YOU couldn’t handle that kind of pressure never mind your plant.
Totally agree. I like NPH but I do not think he is funny on the show. I don’t think the show itself is very funny, but I think I’m in the minority on that one.
Y’know, I don’t care for soap operas, but I wouldn’t slam the acting. For sure there is some bad acting, but a lot of it is due to bad writing. And I won’t even slam the writing cuz, how hard would it be to come up with that much material every stinking day. Shoot look at movies, a 120 page script can go through years of development, 20 writers and still when it hits the screen, it often winds up garbage. As for Eric Braeden, I’ve enjoyed his acting for years. I remember him in Combat and in some movies(hey as a kid I loved Escape fron the Planet of the Apes) and didn’t know for many years that he’d turned up on a soap. But don’t slam the soap actors, they look like some of the hardest working actors out there.
Victor Newman is the KING! That is all.
Agreed
A star on a soap opera, no matter how popular to a small segment unemployed suburban housewives, should be grateful that the producers of a hit show even know who he is much less want him on their show. Head guy on a soap does not a diva make.
It’s true. Eric B IS a d-bag. He’s ruined Y&R with his massive ego and I’m glad NPH cut him down to size.
Ruined it? HE IS Y&R.
exactly
you don’t get out much, do you?
Flip, I agree his ego is incredible. And I’ve could never watch Y&R for him since he’s SO boring as an actor.
If you don’t like someone, that’s perfectly fine, but it’s incredibly tacky to do what NPH did.
Agreed. Anyone who thought NPH was classy before this obviously didn’t see his “jokes” at the VGA. I get that there’s a supposed demo for those, but the host helps set the tone and his whole time on stage was just cringe worthy.
Agreed. Maybe it’s from lack of sleep. He is a new dad….
Yes, because NPH was also the entire writing staff of the VGAs in addition to being the host.
Nah, it’s called being honest. If a soap actor called any role ‘insubstantial’ it’s a joke of massive proportion.
I’ve got to agree. How can you call someone a “whippersnapper” when they’ve been on TV (and I’ve known who they are) for over 20 years. Dude may have been around for 50, but I can’t recall ever having heard his name. He would have gotten broader exposure for two lines on “How I Met Your Mother” (an admittedly mediocre sitcom) than 50 pages on whatever soap he’s on. Foolish, man!
Oh, yeah. I’m sure that an actor with Braeden’s resume is looking for or worried about “more exposure” for a walk on role in a middling sitcom.
Old people suck.
YOU ARE GOING TO GET OLD SOMEDAY YOURSELF YOU YOUNG WHIPPERSNAPPER. NPH IS NOTHING MORE THAN A SPOILED BRAT!!!
I hope that when I’m old I at least know how to work the caps lock key.
Go Eric Braeden.
I agree with Eric. Working on a daytime soap must be ALOT of hard work considering they air episodes EVERYDAY! no wonder he didn’t wanna come in on another show for just TWO lines or so.. ridicilous.
Calling him a d-bag was unnecessay but a cameo on a 1/2 hour show is going to be short by definition. He had to know it would be similar to the last time he was on…which was also short.
He agreed to it. Then he backed out. Not sure why people don’t get that.
No kidding. And the fact that he doesn’t even know who NPH is….
I think you’ve failed to see the sarcasm in Braeden’s early comments. He later says “…(NPH) seems to me like a young whippersnapper, having seen himself on a few covers, who’s received a few awards..”, so obviously he knows who is he is.
Yes, he agreed to do it, then changed his mind, and the world continues to turn. I think NPH could have expressed himself in a better way, bottom line.
sniff
I was a huge fan of Y&R growing up, but you can tell by reading the Eric’s responses who is actually showing hubris. While he was lucky to find an iconic part on a soap he hasn’t achieved nearly as much as NPH who has been successful in t.v., broadway, etc. Not saying that NPH should have called him a D-bag, but it certainly seems that Eric deserved it if he thinks he’s above keeping promises. Even if he’s not a d-bag, he certainly seems to be a diva.
I’M WITH NPH, EB HAS NO BUSINESS LOOKING DOWN TO FELLOW ACTORS. HE IS NOT THE MASTER OF THE ACTING UNIVERSE
Yeah, people skip the part about calling the part (which he did before, no less) ‘insubstantial’. Hello, Mr. Career-insubstantial!
Alex:
I’M WITH NPH, EB HAS NO BUSINESS LOOKING DOWN TO FELLOW ACTORS.
Oh, by NPH can? I love the double standard!
How is he looking down on him? He works on a soap, where he is on a front burner storyline almost all the time. Soaps air episodes EVERYDAY!!! The guy said himself, he’s exhausted, so he wasn’t going to go there and just say two lines.. when he could be at home enjoying some FREE time which i’m sure there’s not alot of working on a soap.
Hmmm. He certainly didn’t claim to be “exhausted” when he took the role. It was only after he discovered that he had a couple of lines that he bailed!
Remember, Eric. There are no small parts; just small actors!
I think it has more to do with Braeden still recovering from his recent surgery than the minimal size of the role. Sorry, but NPH is being a jerk.
He just had surgery. Read the article.
Ditto, Linda C. Apparently, braeden’s recent hip surgery wasn’t going to prevent him from doing HIMYM if the part had been more “substantial.” Well. I love Ray Wise and I think he’ll be great as Robin’s father.
NPH should’ve thought about his words before he tweeted, but I don’t blame him for being upset.
Then he shouldn’t have agreed to it in the first place.
Ann, i think Eric has achieved more, since after 50 years he’s still in the business. Lets see if we can say the same thing for NPH in a few decades.
Just look at the difference in awards already – think EB can catch NPH with his remaining years? NPH has already outperformed EB in other media as well. And just compare the IMDB pages – this is ridiculous. NPH has already done more in his 22 years in the business than EB has done in 50 and NPH has not peaked yet.
I think the point is Eric has had one role his whole career, nothing to frown at but he certainly isn’t a titan in the entertainment industry by any stretch of the imagination. While he certainly wields some power in the Y &R kingdom (as evidenced by his salary debacle), he certainly doesn’t have the clout to act like he is above a spot on a prime time sitcom. As someone else mentioned, it’s about professionalism. He agreed to the part, and if he is as tired as he said then he shouldn’t have agreed to take on more than he could handle. On the flip side, if he’s that tired he should be happy the role was such a minor commitment. Either way, Neil Patrick Harris has been in the industry for over 20 years so he’s certainly not the rookie Eric makes him out to be.
I think he had another role back in the sixties, playing a WW2 German tank commander in a show called ” Rat Patrol”.
Can’t say I’ve ever heard of Eric Braeden before- yet I’ve heard tons about NPH. Braeden seems to think being a star on a soap is worth something, but in reality the demographic for soaps is tiny. Though I don’t agree with calling him a d-bag, clearly Braeden has also shown quite a bit of hubris and lacks a lot of professionalism as well.
If you’ve never heard of ERIC BRAEDEN, you don’t know crap about an entire segment of the TV industry. The guy is a daytime legend, and daytime TV is nothing to turn your nose up at. He’s big time, even if YOU, whoever you are, have never heard of him.
calm down Laura fact is daytime tv is not big or taken seriously by the rest of the business and you know that if you know anything. Get real. GH is about the only soap that get semi coverage in EW and YR only when someone big leaves. Soaps are dying and never were that respected.
Soaps are a dying breed. Thank god.
It’s all about professionalism. Do not accept a part and then back out. Name calling is also not professional. For Eric to claim to not know who one of the stars of the show he guested on before and agreed to guest on again suggests his lack of awareness of his own industry/work.
Maybe Eric didn’t know he was going to have to have hip surgery.NPH was just wrong!
Nope. No wonder Eric has only done Y&R – no one else wants to hire someone so unprofessional.
Oh, but I guess NPH’s response was professional! That’s it; keep backing that D-bag!
And to iWoman: EB has been every where! Have you ever heard of a little movie called Titanic? Yes, he was in that!
If you blinked during Titanic you easily missed his appearance.
You know who else was in Titanic? Hundreds of extras.
I wonder how many times they had to have The Mumbler repeat himself before getting his full comment.
you gotta respect Victor!
This is so uncharacteristic of NPH. Isn’t he considered one of the nicest, most humble, most amiable people in showbiz? I hope he doesn’t become so enamored of his own press that
Two useless turds bantering on twitter. Yawn.
Tim, I don’t see where Braeden used Twitter at all in this. Did you actually read the article before you replied?