Cybil Richards

Cybil Richards
Biographical Information
Status	Alive
Professional Information
Profession	Former Chair of the Board, UBA
Workplace	UBA
Appearances
First	My Least Favorite Year
Count	10
Seasons	2 • 3
Portrayed by	Holland Taylor

Cybil Richards is a network executive at UBA.

History

Background

Cybil's ancestors founded UBA nearly a century prior, meaning that at some point in her adult life, Cybil inherited control of the family's shares in the company and thus Chairmanship of the Board.

Firing Cory

In the aftermath of Bradley and Alex's explosive broadcast, Cybil fired Cory, while Fred was placed on administrative leave. When Cory challenged this decision, Cybil said they would be investigating the allegations against Fred and if they were found to be true, he would be fired as well. Cory said they wouldn't be able to prove what happened in that room because the other person in the room, Hannah, was dead. When Cory reminded Cybil that his contract couldn't be terminated without just cause, she said that hijacking the airwaves and locking Fred out of the control room was justification enough.

Bradley intervened and Cory was re-hired, but then Bradley called in sick to several days of work in a row. After pictures came out of Bradley out eating ice cream looking healthy, she called Cory and told him to fire her. He promised he would, but then didn't.

Mr. Shoenfeld's Lawsuit

When Cory learned that Fred had launched a smear campaign against Hannah, he went to Cybil to get her help to kill the story. Cybil said it wasn't their responsibility and said if the claims he made were false, it would give Hannah's family a solid libel suit.

In the aftermath of Yanko fighting a racist on the street in defense of Stella, Cybil told Stella she needed to suspend him, as it reflected poorly on the studio. Cybil also warned her to control her people or replace them with people she could control. Cybil also told her that she had told Cory to fire Bradley during her mystery illness, which Stella didn't know. Cybil told her that she and Cory were a package deal and she needed to be aware of that.

UBA+ Launch

Cybil met with Cory and two others about the UBA+ launch. In the meeting, she asked what it would cost to delay the launch, believing COVID made it too dangerous, but Cory was insistent that they wouldn't be cancelling. After arguing with him for a while, Cybil left, saying she shouldn't have come in at all, as she risked getting sick by doing so.

Racism towards Chris

In 2022, after a major cyber hack at UBA, an email surfaced regarding the hiring of Chris for TMS. In that email, Cybil compared Chris to Aunt Jemima in what was considered a racist email. This is then followed by the discovery Chris is paid less than her co-workers. Cybil agrees to apologise in a live interview with Chris, but Chris opts to press Cybil further on her history, and Cybil flubs the interview. This causes the media storm to become worse, prompting the UBA board to unanimously (with the exception of Cybil) vote no-confidence in her Chairmanship, forcing her to resign.

It is implied that Cory was behind the leaking of the email, in order to force Cybil's ouster as she opposed his plan for tech billionaire Paul Marks to acquire UBA.

Return to UBA

Some months after her ouster, Cybil begins anonymously buying shares in UBA in an attempt to prevent Marks' acquisition and preserve her family's legacy. Cybil reveals her intentions to Cory, along with the knowledge that Marks intends to sell off each of UBA's divisions to fund his rocket company, Hyperion. After Cory fails to convince Cybil's successor as Board Chair, Leonard, to oppose Marks, he makes an alliance with Cybil to save UBA.

Cory and Cybil manage to convince various shareholders to abandon Marks' bid, using a deliberately provocative broadcast on The Morning Show by Chip Black to draw attention to Marks' real plans. However, their scheming is impacted when Marks intervenes to sway back their votes and sabotage their intended financing plan for the company.

Ultimately, the Marks takeover is prevented when Alex Levy orchestrates a merger between UBA and NBN, whilst simultaneously working to undermine Marks' position with a scandal about false data reporting at Hyperion. Marks is blackmailed into withdrawing, and under the terms of the UBA/NBN merger, Cybil would be a significant shareholder.

Gallery

Appearances

The Morning Show, Season 2
#01	"My Least Favorite Year"	#06	"A Private Person"
#02	"It's Like The Flu"	#07	"La Amara Vita"
#03	"Laura"	#08	"Confirmations"
#04	"Kill the Fatted Calf"	#09	"Testimony"
#05	"Ghosts"	#10	"Fever"