Blaze and Kristina Both Face Being Canceled Due to the Backlash from The Invader Article — and Alexis Confronts the Article’s Source

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Diane shows up at Sonny’s office after he calls her. Sonny informs her that Avery isn’t safe with Ava, and he wants sole custody now. Diane says in order to revisit their custody agreement, she’ll need something damning on Ava. She warns him they’d have to argue that Ava is less fit to raise Avery than him, and this is a steep hill to climb. She also says Avery isn’t a baby anymore, and she could wind up hating him for taking her mother away. Sonny is willing to chance it, so Diane begins making notes on her phone. She then sees a news alert from in The Invader and steps out to make a call.

In her hotel room, Ava reads the comments on the article about Natalia, and she calls Adrian and demands to see him. She tells him to come to her room, as she can’t go to him, and tells him to take the stairs so nobody sees him.

Adrian finally arrives, gasping for breath, and begs for water. Ava gives him some, and he says the article has been a hit, and he’s been booked on Bravo and TMZ. Ava tells him to do whatever he wants, but make sure her name is kept out of it. Adrian says her secret is safe, and besides, all people are talking about is Natalia.

Ava again orders Adrian to forget her name and never mention it, especially to Nina. He thinks there must be a story there. She threatens to take him out if he breathes her name to anyone and demands he take down the recording. Adrian says that would only draw more attention to it, and the story has been picked up by the newswires and is everywhere already. She tells him to get out and makes sure nobody sees him leaving.

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At Kristina’s, she and Alexis go over the resumes for the new director at the center. Alexis is more concerned about Kristina than the center at the moment. Alexis then gets a call from Diane, who tells her about The Invader’s news alert and asks what Alexisis is doing. Alexis has no idea what she’s talking about, and reveals she quit The Invader. Diane tells Alexis this is bad, and to go to The Invader’s website now.

Alexis pulls up the article and plays the audio linked in it. They listen to Natalia’s remarks about Blaze and Kristina. Alexis is furious. Kristina is, too, but she’ll be fine. She wasn’t the one outed by her own mother, who had awful things to say about her. Alexis asks if she’s heard from Blaze, but Kristina hasn’t, and she assumes Deception is doing damage control. Kristina says after this, her own center won’t even let her in the front door. Alexis says this will work out, and she is going to go deal with Dewitt. She storms out.

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Back at Sonny’s office, he reads the article and can’t believe Natalia would say such things about her own daughter. Diane says people can conceal their hatred and homophobia well, and Natalia isn’t the first homophobe with a gay child. Sonny asks why Alexis would publish this garbage. Diane reveals she didn’t, and that Alexis quit the paper. Sonny says whoever posted this hurt his daughter, and now they have a target on their back. Diane tells Sonny to take a lesson from Natalia, and that things that are said in anger and private have a way of getting out. She says that type of statement could be used against him in this custody fight to come. Sonny asks how good of a parent he’d be if he didn’t do something about this garbage. Sonny notes there are now calls for Kristina to resign from her center, that she is in a relationship with a closeted artist, and she has too much internal homophobia to be trusted. Sonny is furious and throws his nameplate across the room.

At Deception, Maxie reads the article on her phone and is stunned. Lucy’s phone also begins beeping, and Scott reminds them he is billed by the hour, so they should get back to discussing the contract. Maxie says the contract is irrelevant, and she asks Blaze to talk in private. Before they can, Lucy reads the article and can’t believe this disaster, and notes The Invader article has been picked up by a dozen other sites. Natalia asks what they’ve done now, and Maxie informs her this disaster is of her making and that she really should learn what a hot mic is.

Maxie plays the audio file attached to the article, and Blaze lashes out at her mom and says, “Don’t hold back. Tell us how you really feel!”  Natalia says that is not what it sounds like, but Lucy says that was her voice. Scott says this is a PR nightmare and asks if they have a team to handle this. Lucy admits they were let go to save money. Maxie orders everyone’s social media to be locked down and demands Natalia tell her where this recording came from. Natalia swears she spoke to no one, no reporter. She doesn’t even remember saying those words, and maybe her phone was tapped. Lois says this doesn’t sound like a phone call recording.

Blaze knows Maxie and Lucy have to look out for Deception, but this will also hurt her own career. Natalia says they’ll make a joint statement, but Blaze won’t have anything to do with her after her hateful words. Natalia claims those words weren’t about her, but Blaze says she named her and Kristina. She lashes out at her mother for her homophobia. Natalia thinks they should talk privately, but Blaze says the whole world knows how she feels now. She cries about how her mother has always made negative remarks about gay people. Lucy says it’s ironic that the person who locked Blaze in the closet just outed her. Natalia claims she is a victim here, too. Blaze says she doesn’t get it and that her mother has destroyed everything, including any future she has in music. She storms out, and Natalia is left in tears.

Natalia apologizes for her daughter, who she says gets emotional at times. Lois says she has a right to be and asks if she wants to go after her. Natalia says it won’t do good, she knows her daughter. Maxie asks if she actually does. Lucy rips up Blaze’s contract, and Natalia threatens legal action. Maxie says this is within their rights, as this will change their relationship with Blaze. Natalia asks if they are saying Blaze can’t be the face of Deception because she’s gay. Maxie says what she is saying is they can’t have someone who is ashamed to be gay as the face of Deception because this is a gay-friendly company, and many of their followers and customers are gay. She tells Natalia that she and Blaze have to get with the program or kick rocks.

Lois tries to intervene and suggests they be careful with these hurtful words. Maxie is only telling the truth, and Lucy says as much as they love Blaze, they can’t sacrifice their company’s reputation for her. Lois suggests they put the contract negotiations aside so Natalia can make peace with her daughter. Natalia says her relationship with her daughter is none of their business, and if they do anything with the contract or hurt her daughter, they’ll have to deal with her.

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Natalia goes to her car, listens to the recording, and cries. She tries to remember who she was talking to and why they’d send it to the media. Suddenly, she figures it out.

Back in the office, Lucy, Scott, Lois, and Maxie strategize how to deal with this. Lucy suggests they end their contract with Blaze like Maxie suggested. Maxie says she only said that to force Natalia’s hand, but she underestimated how self-absorbed she is. Lucy says they have to do something. Otherwise, they could be canceled on social media. Scott offers to draw up a statement, but is Blaze in or out?

Blaze arrives at Kristina’s, who is reading the awful comments on social media. Kristina says she’s been canceled. Blaze thinks they’ve both been canceled.

Blaze cries about the damage she and her mom have caused Kristina, and they can go their separate ways if she wants to. She’ll leave her to think about it. Kristina tells her no, she hasn’t caused any damage to her life. She says she was already going to hand the center off to someone else, and the only thing she’s lost is the title of undercover girlfriend.

Blaze fears her career will suffer not for being gay but for hiding it. Kristina assures her it will be okay and that they will be okay. Blaze says she doesn’t believe they can make it through this. Kristina believes in her, and she believes Blaze will get through this. They both will.

Adrian goes to the Metro Court pool to relax, and orders some drinks. Alexis finds him, and he says she is intruding on his afternoon off. Alexis says his article intruded on her daughter and her girlfriend, and she is going to sue both him and The Invader into oblivion. He claims freedom of the press, but Alexis warned him about using one-sided recordings and sources in the past. She also notes people have the right to privacy.

Adrian says Blaze is a public persona, so she doesn’t get privacy. Alexis says Blaze may be a public figure, but her mother isn’t. She warns him this is a career killer and Nina will likely drop him. Adrian thinks he should get a lawyer. Alexis says she is one, and offers to make all this trouble go away in exchange for the name of the person who gave him that recording.

Natalia arrives at Sonny’s restaurant, and Diane takes off. Natalia can see that Sonny has heard the recording, and she assumes he is upset and doesn’t have a high opinion of her right now. Natalia won’t force her presence on him, but he should know the recording came from Ava, who secretly recorded their conversation.

Back in Ava’s room, she waits for room service, and there is a knock at her door. She assumes it’s her food, but it’s Alexis. Alexis says they need to have to have a conversation, one that won’t be recorded.

On the next General Hospital: Sasha gives Kristina and Blaze some advice from her own experiences. At Deception, Lois makes a suggestion. Nina promises Maxie that Dewitt will answer for what he’s done. Alexis asks Ava, “Wanna guess what it is?” Sonny tells Natalia there is no limit to how far Ava will go. Carly tells Joss there is a good chance she could go to prison.