DAYS star posts controversial post-rape-storyline video

In the midst of questions about whether or not Days of our Lives' Chase can be redeemed, portrayer Jonathan McClendon has made waves with a social media video viewers aren't too pleased with.

Rape is always a sticky issue to tackle, as evidenced by several soap operas both getting praise for emotional, educational scenes as well as receiving flack for not exactly handling the sensitive subject in the most pleasant of ways. And while Days of our Lives has gotten a lot of positive feedback for the way it handled last week's scenes in which Chase (Jonathon McClendon) raped Hope's daughter, Ciara (Vivian Jovanni), a recent social media video posted by McClendon isn't sitting well with fans.

The young star recorded himself in character saying, "Let's be honest; like Ciara also didn't punch me. She didn't punch me, she didn't push me off. She said no, technicality [sic], but she also, she also didn't push me off. So there was a part of her that wanted it. See... she flirts with me. You guys know she flirts with me! You guys know it. She led me on hardcore."

McClendon, who was pre-nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award this year, stresses that he's just playing Chase in the video, but nonetheless, his controversial choice of words has many viewers up in arms.

Meanwhile, Jovanni has been receiving quite a lot of praise for her work both during and after the emotional rape scenes. If soap opera history repeats itself, she'll follow in the footsteps of previous soap opera rape victims like One Life to Live's Marty Saybrooke (Susan Haskell), Another World's Lorna Devon (Robin Christopher), All My Children's Julia Santos (Sydney Penny) and General Hospital's Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) to become a fan favorite heroine.

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As for McClendon's Chase, time will tell whether or not the character can be redeemed. It's worked for "monsters" like OLTL's Todd Manning (Roger Howarth) and GH's Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary), who were both involved in rape scenes and later went on to become two of the most popular soap opera characters of all time. But then again, that's like catching lightening in a bottle...

What are your thoughts on McClendon's controversial video? Do you think Chase can be redeemed? And what do you see for Jovanni's future as Ciara? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.

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