With what constitutes an “episode” when it comes to the digital daytime drama series categories now in question and how a compilation of clips could sway the vote, The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has decided to revoke “The Bay” actress Patrika Darbo‘s win in the category of Guest Performer in a Digital Daytime Drama Series after a thorough investigation, reports Variety. Darbo won the award during the online broadcast of “The 45th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards” in April of this year.
According to the publication, NATAS determined that Darbo’s submission contained two violations. One of which was that the actress had previously appeared on the show, and the other being that her reel included material from multiple episodes, an immediate no-no as the rules specifically says that the material could only come from a single show.
“NATAS immediately commissioned a thorough internal investigation, and determined that Patrika Darbo and Thomas Calabro, both of Amazon’s ‘The Bay,’ should have been deemed ineligible…as they had each appeared in a prior season of the program,” a rep for NATAS said in a statement released to Variety.
For her part, Darbo says she learned about the revocation of her award from “The Bay” creator and executive producer Gregori Martin and then from NATAS senior vice president David Michaels, who personally told her the conclusion didn’t favor her keeping the award. “Of course, I felt badly about it,” Darbo told Variety. “David said he was ready to jump off a bridge.”
As for Martin, he says he takes “responsibility for not seeing the note above the submission details,” which would have prevented the submission error.
The mistake didn’t just hit “The Bay,” it also hit other web productions, including “Anacostia,” which would have had the next possible winner in the category based on votes: Jennfer Bassey. Sadly, the “All My Children” alum’s submission also included violations, per NATAS.
For more on the story and how the organization decided to forgo a winner in the category, read the full story by Variety.