The Young and the Restless’ Adam Newman is a character who brings out the emotions in everybody else in town…mostly emotions of the negative variety. Let’s face it — he’s a magnet for toxicity and negativity.

Adam Newman: Expert Enemy Maker

Adam (Mark Grossman) is currently working as Nate’s (Sean Dominic) assistant at Newman Enterprises, but as far as we know, his real job is to walk around town and stand there while everybody unleashes their anger all over him. He’s truly excellent at getting people to dislike him.

His own family can’t stand him, so he can’t count on them. After all, Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott), Nick (Joshua Morrow), and Victoria (Amelia Heinle) recently convened to discuss going along with Victor’s (Eric Braeden) scheme to eliminate any hint of betrayal waged against him.

On any given day, he faces less-than-polite showdowns with Billy (Jason Thompson), Chloe (Elizabeth Hendrickson), Nate, and Tucker (Trevor St. John) — name the Genoa City resident, and they most likely have a beef with him. It’s exhausting to watch him muster up all that bluster on a continual basis.

Adam’s Complicated Friendships

Adam does have a few people in his life he can actually have friendly conversations with, but these relationships are complicated and often become topsy-turvy and unreliable.

Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) is probably the character who’s the most understanding of Adam and all his flaws. When they talk, it’s always honest and positive and glorious. But Jack is also Victor’s longtime enemy (they seem to have a truce now), and his own family’s experiencing turbulence, so there’s no way Jack has the quality time to spend on Adam right now when he needs it the most.

Sharon (Sharon Case) is one of Adam’s go-to “friends” when he needs to vent, but these days, she’s wisely taking care of herself and her business. Another problem is she’s a talk-to for the entire town, so her alliances tend to create conflicting interests. Also, there’s a lot of history between Adam and Sharon. Adam needs to find someone to confide in who will never turn romantic. So this rules out Sally and Chelsea, too. Especially Sally.

Adam Newman: Look for Friends, Not Foes

Phyllis has people in her life she can’t count on as friends, so why can’t Adam? He needs someone who he won’t sleep with or battle for supremacy at the office. Abby doesn’t want anything to do with him either, but no man or woman can be an island. Couldn’t they find some common ground? They’re both Newman family outsiders. We’re all for unexpected friendships that, on paper, don’t make sense but seem to work. Why not give Adam one of those?