The Young and the Restless Recap, December 26: Genoa City pays the price for Victor and Jack’s endless war

Here’s the full recap of what happened on The Young and the Restless on Friday, December 26, 2025.

What happened on The Young and the Restless

Sally encountered Adam at the GCAC, and he asked if she had a moment to speak with him. He hoped they could reach a point when things were no longer awkward between them. Sally wanted him to back off the Abbotts and accused Newman Media of targeting them cruelly. However, she did have time to talk about one topic. Sally accused Adam of parading around as a changed man, despite his actions demonstrating otherwise.

Sally shot down any excuse Adam made about Newman Media’s attack on Jabot. He asked why Abbott Communications didn’t issue a defense of the company. She wanted her new business to appear unbiased, though. The conversation turned more personal, and she referenced how he cheated on her with Chelsea. Sally blasted him for ruining her big night, and she said all he cared about was doing Victor’s bidding.

Adam promised that he had no intentions of hurting Sally. However, Sally knew that it would crush Billy. She called him out for timing the article’s publication at the most opportune time to hurt Billy. Sally didn’t buy into Adam’s changed man act, and she tried to walk away, but he stopped her. Adam promised that he had learned and grown from his mistakes. He tried to use Connor to get her to see things differently, but she told him not to use his son to avoid accountability.

Adam vowed he couldn’t understand what he’d done to make Sally believe he'd never change. She spelled it out for him. Sally said that Adam was intentionally destructive, and he didn’t think of any of the innocent people caught in the crossfire of Jack and Victor’s endless battle. Sally acknowledged her past mistakes, but she thought Adam was a better person when they were together. Once they split, she felt like he allowed Victor to morph him into a copy of himself.

Adam feigned ignorance about knowing his father had the. AI program in his possession. Sally knew that he was lying through his teeth, and his denial spoke volumes to her about his lack of change. She wondered why he’d be willing to hurt Jack, just to destroy Billy. Adam defended his company’s integrity, but Sally accused him of simply repeating the party line. She didn’t think he believed a word he was saying, but he was firmly under Victor’s control.

Chelsea walked in during their tense exchange, right as Adam warned Sally to watch her back around Billy. He believed that Sally was waiting for the other shoe to drop until he let her down again. Chelsea agreed that the war between the Newmans and the Abbotts needed to end, which prompted Sally to ask her to weigh in on the publishing.

Adam lied to Sally and accused her of being paranoid. Before Sally left, she warned Adam that her media company was just as capable as his in publishing damaging pieces about families. After she was gone, Chelsea told Adam she didn’t want to be a part of anything anymore.

The post-Christmas edition kicked off with Michael and Lauren at Crimson Lights, who were thanked by Esther for hosting her for the holiday. After a playful exchange with Esther about Gloria, Lauren asked Michael to keep filling her in on Victor and the AI program. He told her he hated the software and that he hated Victor having his hands on it.

Lauren knew what the program meant for Jabot, and Michael admitted he gave Victor the heads-up about Jabot's shutdown to avoid the attack. This backfired, giving Victor cause to write the Newman Media hit piece. She asked whether Michael would still help Diane secure the program from Victor and whether he thought peace was still possible.

Michael asked Lauren’s opinion before he made a move in either direction. He invited her into the decision process, attempting to honor his commitment to keeping her in the loop. Lauren was apprehensive about getting involved, but Michael told her that if she wanted to be involved in the conversation, she needed to be all in.

Lauren knew the AI program posed a significant risk to the companies of their closest friends. She wanted the program destroyed before it took away everything anyone had. Despite the need to get rid of it, she was worried that Victor would retaliate if he knew Michael had any involvement in taking it away from him.

Lauren told Michael, “You have to decide what’s more of a threat: An invasive AI program set to decimate the companies of our nearest and dearest. Or a double-crossed Victor Newman.” Michael had thought for quite a while about the potential fallout, and although he considered it, he didn’t know if he could pull it off.

Lauren was nervous that Victor would have a terrifying reaction to Michael's involvement. That said, she believed Michael was better positioned than anyone else to get close enough to the software to retrieve it. Lauren ultimately agreed to support Michael in his quest against Victor, but she urged him to do so discreetly, without being caught.

Jack dropped by Billy’s, and they laughed about the tiny Christmas tree in the younger brother’s apartment. Newman Media’s attack on Jabot has snowballed into a full-scale decimation of the company’s public perception. Jack wanted to get things back on track and admitted that the IT program was doing its best to mitigate potential damage from an attack.

Jack told Billy they needed help, and he reminded Jack that Phyllis was still an option. Jack wasn’t opposed to singing over Marchetti to Summer, but he didn’t want to resort to that option yet. Billy realized that Jack was counting on Nikki to come through for the family. However, he wasn’t as confident as his older brother that Nikki was the best choice to rely on.

Despite the bond between Jack and Nikki, Billy didn’t think she’d ever turn on him. Jack recalled previous examples of Nikki taking on Victor, but Billy thought it would turn everyone’s lives into a warzone if she took Jack’s side.

Jack agreed with Billy about the bond between Victor and Nikki, but he also believed that Nikki had grown a lot in recent years. She wanted to be an equal in her own marriage and was willing to put it on the line to help Jack and Jabot. Billy still didn’t think Nikki would follow through with destroying her marriage to save the family company from the brink of collapse.

Billy told Jack not to count on Nikki, and Jack assured him they'd approach it from multiple fronts. Although they had Phyllis as a backup option, Jack wasn’t sold on her as an ally. She could ask for more and more until she bled the company dry. However, there was also a slight possibility that she never handed the AI program to them at all.

Sally returned home after her tense encounter with Adam at the GCAC, and she recognized Adam’s behavior from their past together. However, it seemed Jack believed Adam could be a future ally.

At the Society, Kyle ran into Claire, and he asked if she had a nice Christmas with the Newman family. She showed him some photos of Victor and Nikki, and Kyle noticed underlying tension between them. Claire admitted something was off between her grandparents. Kyle wished Victor weren’t so stubborn, because everything could be avoided if he backed down on the AI program.

Claire took offense to Kyle’s comments and cited her grandfather’s love for her grandmother. She pointed out how Victor viewed Jack as the biggest obstacle to Nikki’s safety. Victor refused to see things as they actually played out, but Claire couldn’t view it that way. Kyle vowed to stop Victor by any means necessary, and she was caught off guard by the choice of words.

Claire asked Kyle why he opened up about Victor attacking Jabot. Kyle admitted that Jack thought getting Claire on their side would be an added tool to their arsenal. However, he refused to put her in the middle unless she wanted to. Claire wasn’t blind to what Victor was capable of. She still blamed herself for the fallout of everything that was happening in the present.

Kyle tried to get Claure not to blame herself, but she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about her part in it. She admitted she also viewed things from Victor’s perspective. Claire told Kyle she’d remain neutral in the family feud. It was in her best interest to watch this war from the sidelines. He didn't want to pressure her to do anything that made her uncomfortable.

Kyle asked Claire to change the subject, and she asked about his Christmas. His holiday was stressful and tense, and Claire hoped Harrison’s was more cheerful. They discussed the Newman holiday gathering for all of the cousins and how Kyle would avoid taking Harrison himself so he wouldn’t be forced to deal with Victor.

Holden arrived, interrupting Kyle and Claire’s conversation, and he made it clear that the two had plans that didn’t involve Kyle. The mere sight of Holden completely altered Kyle’s demeanor. He quickly stormed out of Society, and Claire chased after him. Once she caught up to him, Kyle was tired of trying to make things right, so it was time to end the relationship.

Kyle told Claire he hoped she found everything she searched for, but he couldn’t do it anymore. After he ended things, the camera panned to Audra, who overheard the entire exchange. Audra went into Society and approached Claire about the drama she saw between them. Claire warned her to back off because she wasn’t in the mood.

Audra asked Claire if she felt any guilt about playing Kyle and Holden against each other. However, this simply incensed Claire further, and she threw a glass of water in her enemy's face.

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