If the anonymous sources are to be believed (no one ever goes on the record for these things), it was a case of the actor and the network playing hardball over the contract.

"TV Guide" magazine cites an anonymous "Y&R" staffer and referred to the negotiations as "prickly," while TheWrap.com simply said that they "broke down."

Minutes after the story broke in the entertainment-news media, CBS Daytime boss Angelica McDaniel said on Twitter, "I respect Billy Miller's decision to move on and wish him great success in his future endeavors."

That doesn't mean, of course, that he was the one playing tough -- his "decision" could have been forced by a lowball offer from the network.

However, Miller certainly went into the negotiations in a strong position. He had already won two best-supporting-actor Daytime Emmys for his role as Billy Abbott, which he began playing in 2008.

And he left the job on a high note, too, winning the Best Lead Actor award (a reflection of a more central storyline) at the 2014 Daytime Emmys, months after leaving the show.

He spent those months productively. He landed a role in the web series "Enormous," has roles in two upcoming indie films -- "Bad Blood," due out later this year, and "American Sniper," due in 2015 -- and appeared in a small role in an April episode of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

In the meantime, his old shoes are being filled on the "Y&R" set by the guy who wore them first. David Tom, who first played the adult version of Billy Abbott (in true soap opera fashion, the character had been played by child actors until one day they turned him into a grown-up) from 1999 to 2002, stepped back into the role in February.

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