Daytime TV Performer of the Week: ‘Y&R’s Sharon Case Shows Sharon’s Not Just Angry — She’s Hurt — Over Phyllis’s Betrayal

If you were betting that the truce between long-running rivals Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) on The Young and the Restless was going to last more than a year, well, you would have lost that bet.

Sharon announced that their friendly dynamic was over in light of Phyllis and Cane’s (Billy Flynn) hostile (not to mention illegal) takeover of Newman Enterprises.

Case has always made acting choices that are not only unique, but also totally in-character. She is subtly brilliant in her work. For her portrayal of a strong and forgiving heroine, but one who still refuses to be walked over, TV Insider bestows Performer of the Week honors on Y&R‘s Case.

If Phyllis expected to find an ally in Sharon when she showed up as Phyllis and Nick (Joshua Morrow) were in mid-fight at the Genoa City Athletic Club, she was in for a surprise.

Nick’s first wife steadfastly stood by her husband and his family. “What makes you think I would take your side after what you’ve done to Nicholas’ family?” Sharon firmly and rhetorically asked.

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Phyllis shrugged off Sharon’s statement that Nick’s family, which includes her daughter Summer (Allison Lanier), would be financially impacted all that severely by Phyllis and Cane’s (Billy Flynn) takeover.

Sharon had joined Nick and Phyllis’s showdown mid-argument and she was aware that they were in public, but that didn’t stop her from going for Phyllis’s jugular. Sharon compared Phyllis’s actions to those of the ones committed by Martin Lauren (Christopher Cousins), the man who kidnapped and tortured the two women in some kind of sick game in early 2025.

Phyllis, not surprisingly, said she didn’t care when Sharon said that she wasn’t sure if she could go on calling her a friend any longer.

“Well, I do!” Sharon shot back. “I had come to appreciate, to cherish even, the bond that we created during that nightmare. But now? What you’ve done to everyone I love and care about! Everything that brought us close is completely out the window!”

There was appropriate anger in Sharon’s voice, too, but Daytime Emmy-winner Case added far more to the scene than her character’s rage. She played truly hurt and sad. We’re not just talking being upset over the damage done to Newman Enterprises and Nick’s family, but to how she felt about losing the newfound relationship she had with Phyllis.

They were never going to become best friends, but they were cordial with one another. They showed that two women who’d been married to the same man (Nick) didn’t have to be bitter rivals every time they saw one another.

Watching the two women over much of the last year treat each other cordially was refreshing and, at times, almost comical as they struggled somewhat to not fall back into bad patterns.

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We’re taught to forgive, hash out our differences, and move forward. That’s what both Sharon and Phyllis did. Perhaps, though, this development was inevitable.

Phyllis has so many walls up around her, we can see how she’d more easily dismiss her peaceful rapport with Sharon. But Sharon was truly hoping the days of feuding with the woman who helped break up her marriage after her daughter Cassie (Camryn Grimes) had died were over.

Phyllis hated the comparison Sharon made to Martin, prompting Sharon to respond, “Well, I hated making it.”

Phyllis, feeling outnumbered, retreated, saying she was done being attacked. Case chose to have Sharon hold her gaze on the fiery redhead as she and Nick went to their own table.

A lesser actress would have had her character immediately revel in the fact that this latest dynamic clears out the competition the next time Nick decides to pop the question to one of his exes. Case, however, made these scenes about Sharon losing someone with whom she wanted a different kind of relationship.

No one acts in a vacuum so kudos must also go to both Stafford and Morrow for these terrific scenes. These three have been the most entertaining trio on daytime for many years.

Cane and Phyllis’s use of the Artificial Intelligence program is illegal, so we suspect that their tenure of running Newman Enterprises won’t last forever. However, the AI story has given many of the show’s performers, Case, included, opportunities to shine. Brava!

The Young and the Restless, Weekdays, CBS