“I’m surprised Susan Hayes is not nominated. Shame on the Academy.”
“No Susan Seaforth Hayes is a crime and makes the Emmys meaningless.”
“She absolutely should have been nominated for her heartbreaking work with Doug’s passing at the end of 2024.”
If there was one recurring sentiment from TVLine readers in the wake of this year’s Daytime Emmy nominations being revealed, it was Days of Our Lives fans decrying the lack of a nod for Susan Seaforth Hayes, who plays Julie Williams.
Hayes is a six-time Daytime Emmy nominee, most recently in 2020, and she was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.
Hayes addressed her arguably conspicuous omission from the Academy’s short list in a Thursday Instagram post.
“For everyone who was upset by the Emmy nominations, I am amazed and moved that so many cared that deeply,” the actress wrote, before offering some perspective.
“Between my nominations” over the years, “I have had the honor of co-hosting the show once with Beverlee McKinsey (ex-Iris, Another World; ex-Alexandra, Guiding Light) and in 2018 receiving a Lifetime Achievement Emmy that sits on our piano next to [husband] Billy’s.” (On Days, Bill Hayes played Doug Williams to his real-life wife’s Julie, prior to his passing in January 2024.)
“I have not been snubbed by all the judges of NATAS over time,” she noted.
Hayes went on to speculate that — because her big storyline in 2024 involved Julie mourning the death of husband Doug — she was seen as simply reenacting her real-life loss.
“In that story of loss I was more than an actress, I was a wife,” she says. “My husband deserved all I could give to show the reality of grief and loss. Perhaps the judges felt I wasn’t acting when for the camera, I got the news [of Doug’s passing], kissed the body goodbye, and gave the eulogy. No matter, my truth was based on a love that was real for an audience that loved him, too.
“My reward in 2024 was that I honored Doug and Julie, members of a family millions have opened their hearts to,” she said in closing. “I am hugely blessed and promise you all I will keep on keeping on.”
