Top 10 Disney Stars Who Destroyed Their Careers
#10: Jake T. Austin
Serving as a five-time Young Artist Award nominee, Jake T. Austin is known for his work as Max Russo on “Wizards of Waverly Place.” He starred alongside Selena Gomez on the show, which came to an end in January 2012. The following year, he was arrested for a DUI after a trooper pulled him over for driving without his headlights on. Just one month later he crashed into three parked cars, resulting in major damage. Witnesses reported seeing him throw a bottle of vodka out the window and fleeing the scene in an Uber. At the time he was playing Jesus Foster on “The Fosters,” but he was replaced with Noah Centineo for season three.
#9: Adam Hicks
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From 2009 to 2012, Hicks starred as Luther Waffles in the Disney XD sitcom “Zeke and Luther.” The series followed Luther and his best friend Zeke as they attempted to become world-famous skateboarders. Prior to the show’s conclusion, Hicks starred as Wen Gifford in the Disney Channel movie “Lemonade Mouth.” But after starring in the third season of “Pair of Kings,” Hicks’s life came crashing down. In 2018, he was arrested in connection with a string of street robberies alongside his girlfriend, Danni Tamburro. They allegedly held a gun to older citizens, demanded their wallets and were both charged with three counts of felony attempted second-degree robbery. He probably won’t be returning to Disney any time soon...
#8: Stoney Westmoreland
Despite acting regularly since 1996, Westmoreland didn’t become a feature on the Disney Channel until 2017. It’s then that he began playing Ham Mack on“Andi Mack,” which ran from April 2017 to July 2019. Westmoreland didn’t make it to the finale, as he had been arrested and fired from the show. In December 2018, Westmoreland was caught attempting to solicit sex from a 13-year-old boy through Grindr. He had also sent explicit photos to the boy and openly admitted knowing that he was just thirteen years old through the dating app. However, the young boy was actually an undercover police officer and Westmoreland was charged with six felony counts, including attempted exploitation of a minor.
#7: Bella Thorne
Thorne rose to prominence in late 2010 playing CeCe Jones alongside Zendaya in the Disney sitcom “Shake It Up.” Whereas Zendaya has kept a tight relationship with Disney through Marvel, Thorne has gone in the complete opposite direction. Thorne has adopted a bad girl image and has been hit with numerous controversies. She has been accused of making racist comments and copying beauty brands, and she claims that her “Famous in Love” network Freeform deemed her “uncontrollable and crazy.” She also willingly posted nudes online to beat a hacker - a move that some people saw as inappropriate, especially considering her younger demographic. In 2019, Thorne directed an adult film for Pornhub titled “Her & Him,” which is about as far from Disney as you can possibly get.
#6: Jake Paul
One could make an argument that Jake Paul’s career is thriving. But he certainly burned the bridges connecting him to a more traditional television career. Paul became quite popular through Vine but rose to mainstream prominence on the Disney Channel’s “Bizaardvark.” However, Paul was fired from the show due to his reckless public behavior - behavior that he has carried over to his infamous YouTube channel. While his videos still rack up millions of views, Paul has become arguably the most controversial celebrity on the site owing to his problematic actions and numerous scams. In June 2020, Paul was charged with criminal trespass for being inside a looted mall during a riot. Paul said he was documenting the looting “as a public service.”
#5: Mitchel Musso
Musso was one of the biggest Disney stars of his generation. He appeared in the Disney Channel movie “Life Is Ruff” in 2005 before starring in the likes of “Hannah Montana,” “Phineas and Ferb,” and “Pair of Kings.” However, everything crumbled in October 2011 when Musso was pulled over and charged under a DUI suspicion. The incident proved highly controversial. Musso was promptly fired and written out of “Pair of Kings,” and his prank show “PrankStars” was cancelled. However, he continued to voice Jeremy Johnson on “Phineas and Ferb” and appeared in several episodes of “Milo Murphy’s Law”. Musso’s career isn’t entirely over, but it has certainly been affected.
#4: Lalaine
From 2001 to 2004, Lalaine portrayed Lizzie’s best friend Miranda Sanchez on the iconic “Lizzie McGuire.” In 2002, Lalaine won a Young Artist Award for Best Supporting Young Actress for her work in the show. Hers looked like a very promising career. Until it wasn’t. In July 2007, Lalaine was caught with methamphetamine and charged with felony possession. She pled guilty and entered a plea deal that saw her charges expunged if she attended rehab. And while she completed a stint at a facility in Long Beach and avoided prosecution, her career - both music and TV - was effectively over. Since then she has appeared in some web series, a movie called “Royal Kill,” and cameoed in “Easy A.”
#3: Orlando Brown
Brown was a prolific child actor throughout the late ‘90s and early 2000s, having starred in the likes of “Family Matters,” “Max Keeble’s Big Move,” and Disney’s “That’s So Raven,” where he played Eddie Thomas. He also voiced characters in the Disney animated shows “The Proud Family” and “Fillmore!” Unfortunately, Brown fell on some very hard times. He has been involved in numerous legal issues, including instances of domestic battery and drug possession charges. He has also broken into his friend’s Las Vegas restaurant, claimed that Nick Cannon performed acts on him while dressed as a woman, and declared that he was Michael Jackson’s son on “Dr. Phil.”
#2: Shia LaBeouf
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LaBeouf is very well-known for his movie work, but his career began on the Disney Channel playing Louis Stevens on “Even Stevens.” The show ran from 2000 to 2003, and LaBeouf picked up an Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Series for his work. However, LaBeouf later faced numerous controversies as he descended into alcoholism, including plagiarism, disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, and profane tirades in the 2010s. Luckily, LaBeouf entered rehab and therapy, where he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. His career is certainly not what it once was, but he has still earned critical acclaim for his work in 2019 with “The Peanut Butter Falcon” and writing the autobiographical “Honey Boy.”
#1: Lindsay Lohan
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Lohan has suffered a truly tragic fall from grace. She was basically a certified Disney princess back in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, starring in movies like “The Parent Trap,” “Freaky Friday,” and “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen” Not to mention the persistently popular “Mean Girls,” though that wasn’t made by Disney. However, everything fell apart around 2006 when Lohan spiraled into addiction and legal issues. She lost roles, attended rehab, and faced numerous newsworthy arrests. Lohan attempted various comebacks throughout the years, but nothing really stuck. It wasn’t until the late 2010s that a semblance of a career began again, as Lohan starred in the British black comedy TV program “Sick Note” and served as a judge on “The Masked Singer Australia.”
