Soap Opera
‘The Young and the Restless’ Backstage Shakeup as Head Writer Josh Griffith Steps Down
Josh Griffith has exited his role as head writer of ‘The Young and the Restless.’ No replacement has been announced for the CBS soap opera.
The Young and the Restless is undergoing some huge behind-the-scenes changes as longtime head writer Josh Griffith has left his role, according to a report in TV Insider. As of now, there is no word on who his replacement will be.
Griffith, who served as head writer since 2019 and as executive producer since 2023, stepped back from his production duties in May of this year, with Sally McDonald taking over. As of the end of June, he has also resigned from his head writer duties, with the cast and crew receiving the news on June 26.
Griffith began his soap opera career back in 1988 as a writer for the now-defunct NBC soap Santa Barbara. Since then, he has written for countless soaps, including One Life to Live, As the World Turns, and Days of our Lives, per IMDb. In 1997, Griffith co-created Sunset Beach with former General Hospital head writer Bob Guza. Sunset Beach was the only foray that prolific producer Aaron Spelling ever made into daytime soaps.
The writer and producer also had a long career on Y&R. He first worked on the CBS soap from 2006 to 2008 before returning again from 2012 to 2013. In 2015, he wrote for DAYS before another stint on Y&R that lasted until today.
During the last few years, Griffith introduced multiple new characters to the canvas, including Claire Newman (Hayley Erin) and Audra Charles (Zuleyka Silver). Griffith dug into the soap’s history for Claire, who was born as Eve Howard and thought to have died at just a few days old. Griffith also resurrected the nefarious Matt Clark (Roger Howarth), with Matt’s latest story being a redemption arc nobody ever expected the character to have.
When the year began, Griffith previewed his upcoming stories in TV Insider, saying, ” It’s going to be jam-packed with intrigue, mystery, suspense, and love. We have some fun surprises up our sleeve for 2026.”
