For the past year, the 2016 presidential campaign seemed like a soap opera. Last week, a real soap opera star was caught in the fray. ? On Friday a leaked 10-year old Access Hollywood tape of Donald Trump with then co-host Billy Bush was released. ?The exchange between the two was demeaning to woman. In a video, Trump boasted about trying to sleep with a married woman and said that as a celebrity, you could do anything you want to women. When the two men saw actress Arianne Zucker (Nicole "Days of our Lives, waiting outside to film the segment, Bush exclaimed, "Your girl is hot as s—!" and added, "Yes, the Donald has scored!" as they both talked about her legs. Bush then implored Zucker to give The Donald a hug. He then took one for himself. At the time, Zucker was married to co-star Kyle Lowder, who played Brady. For over a day, Zucker was mum.?Now she has offered a public statement: "My name is Arianne (R-E-on) ZUCKER (Zooker) and I am a strong, independent, hard working mother, business woman and partner to a great man. I have grown to learn that the words of others cannot affect the value of my self worth or define the content of my character. How we treat one another, whether behind closed doors, locker rooms or face to face, should be done with kindness, dignity and respect. Unfortunately, there are too many people in power who abuse their position and disregard these simple principles and are rewarded for it. In understanding the magnitude of this situation, I choose to stand tall with self respect and use my voice to enrich, inspire and elevate the best of who we are as people."

?Former soap actress Amber Tamblyn (ex-Emily "General Hospital") — who has since moved on to prime time and movies — was so appalled by the Trump tape that she decided to open up about a scary encounter with an ex boyfriend.?"The minute he saw me, he picked me up with one hand by my hair and with his other hand, he grabbed me under my skirt by my vagina ... and lifted me up off the floor, literally, and carried me, like something he owned, like a piece of trash, out of the club." She used this statement to illustrate her disgust with Trump's statements in regard to her own traumatizing experience. In 2012 she married actor David Cross from "Arrested Development," who is nearly 20 years her senior.

To find out more about Lynda Hirsch and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.