Known as goalie Greg Goldberg in The Mighty Ducks trilogy, Shaun Weiss has changed a bit
over the years.
With his acting days behind him, his adult life has been plagued with a series of misfortunes
and legal problems.
After his Mighty Ducks fame, Shaun Weiss bounced around TV and film for some years, with his
last major movie role coming in the form of 2008's Drillbit Taylor.
But according to an interview with Oy!Chicago, Weiss started trying his hand at stand-up
comedy and screenwriting around 2000.
In 2014, the actor-turned-comedian launched an unsuccessful Kickstarter to help him fund
his own national stand-up tour.
During this time, Weiss also made several attempts to make a show or film about him
trying to make it back into Tinseltown, including a web series in 2015, Why Not Weiss.
Though he only posted five episodes, Weiss had big plans for the series: in addition
to pitching it as a show, he envisioned it being the vehicle for a Mighty Ducks reunion
that would never happen.
Weiss discussed the interesting premise, explaining,
"Some kind of mysterious stranger approaches me and is like, 'Listen, if you get the Ducks
together...me and my buddies want to do a fantasy sports camp with you guys, play hockey
with you.'
So I actually round the guys up, you know, for some serious cash, and it turns out that
the guys who want to play us are the actual old Hawks."
An enticing project for fans of the classic film series?
Sure.
Something that could be realistically done?
Not so much.
One of the first hints of trouble for Shaun Weiss, at least in the public eye, came in
2017.
According to TMZ, the former '90s star was arrested after he reportedly snatched $151
worth of goods from Fry's Electronics in Los Angeles.
Two days later, he was sentenced to 150 days in the city's county jail after he pleaded
no contest to petty theft charges.
"Like, for real they're gonna actually put me in an orange suit, probably have to join
a gang."
The harsh sentence was supposedly because it was the second such charge made against
the former actor.
Though the details of Weiss' first arrest are unknown, his troubles were serious enough
that he felt his jail sentence might put him on a better path in life with his manager
suggesting he may take the time in jail to get some writing done.
Well, it turned out he wouldn't get much time to try out his creative hand: due to overcrowding,
Weiss only served 12 days behind bars before being released, per TMZ.
After the news of his arrest broke, Weiss poked fun at himself and his situation on
Twitter, writing,
"I have not seen the mugshot.
But if it isn't captioned 'Fry'd Duck' it's a crime."
Though Weiss hoped his brush with the law would give him some creative inspiration,
it appeared to do the opposite.
Just five days out from serving his shortened jail sentence in 2017, the Mighty Ducks goalie
found himself back in police custody, this time for alleged possession of a controlled
substance while wandering around a neighborhood near the Warner Bros. studio lot.
The authorities allegedly found Weiss in possession of what appeared to be methamphetamine, and
the former actor was held on a $20,000 bond.
As a result, Weiss was placed in Burbank City Jail with a misdemeanor charge of drug possession,
as per E! News.
He was then sentenced to 90 days in county jail.
At the time of his arrest, a rep for the actor told the publication,
"Shaun is asking for prayers from his fans that he can find the light."
For several months after serving his sentence, Weiss stopped all social media activity and
kept out of the public eye entirely.
In August of 2018, TMZ caught wind of another arrest.
The Oroville Public Safety Department posted about the arrest on Facebook, indicating that
he was arrested for being under the influence of drugs.
While he was released from the county jail just hours later, this arrest record also
came with a public mugshot, and Weiss' appearance caught the attention of the people.
For those who only remembered Weiss as a child actor, the change in his looks was striking.
However, he had lost most of his weight long before the arrest.
In a stand-up routine from early 2015, an already-thin Weiss spoke about how his weight
loss was perceived by the public, telling the crowd,
"I worked hard to lose some weight.
People see me...and they're like, 'Oh my god, what the f--- happened to you?
Like, are you, do you have cancer or something?'"
But this new Weiss, then 39, did look rough, and even The Mighty Ducks star knew it.
Shortly after the mugshot went viral, he posted Entertainment Tonight's before-and-after shot
to Facebook with the caption,
"When you're on your own Google feed."
His attempt to find levity in the situation is admirable, but the mugshot showcases just
how much use of meth can destroy people.
Though the total lack of privacy for stars is maybe never as apparent as when they get
in trouble, on this occasion, it looked like it was going to do some real good for Shaun
Weiss.
After the release of his viral mugshot, he began receiving an outpouring of fan support.
In response to his public intoxication arrest, Weiss' rep told Page Six:
"He has hit his bottom.
Hopefully he will stay clean and sober when he gets out."
Weiss made public statements of his own at this time as well, including an August 2018
Facebook post announcing that he was checking himself into rehab.
Naturally, the aspiring comedian did so in his own humorous way, remarking that he'd
hit even farther than rock bottom and thanking fans for the consistent support.
Weiss then summed it up:
"In closing, I AM going to recover.
I'm determined to return to my old self.
My mind is set on health and well being."
It's unclear how long Weiss was in rehab or how he responded to the treatment at the time,
but the first step to recovery is for the addict to admit that they have a problem.
Even though he eventually relapsed, for Weiss to do this so publicly showed an incredible
amount of strength and courage.
In November 2018, just a few months after he announced that he was checking into a rehabilitation
center, Shaun Weiss found himself in trouble with the police again.
TMZ reports that the former actor was allegedly caught stealing $200 worth of goods from a
Rite Aid store in Los Angeles.
Due to his prior charges, this petty theft bust also came with a probation violation.
Things already seemed bleak but the situation would still get worse before it got better.
At the time, Weiss' friends were reportedly trying to contact him to help him.
In recent years, Shaun Weiss' ongoing troubles have shocked fans, but it's been his family
and friends who have been at ground level trying to make a difference.
According to a longtime friend of the former actor, Weiss' struggles really started after
the death of his father around 2015, after which he struggled with depression.
The friend told TMZ in 2018 that when she saw he needed help and contacted his niece
for assistance, Weiss wasn't too pleased.
Before the former actor's 2020 arrest, friend Drew Gallagher posted a hopeful video to Facebook
featuring himself with Weiss.
Announcing that Weiss had spent his last night on the streets and indicating that he'd found
a new place to stay, Gallagher revealed that the host-to-be was Weiss' estranged sister.
However, in a follow-up Facebook post, Gallagher stated that the living situation didn't even
last a week.
Around that time, TMZ suggested that the eviction was due to Weiss' alleged bad behavior.
"He had no money, he was in pajamas, and she just dumped him outside a Salvation Army at
night."
Less than a week after leaving his sister's home, Weiss was arrested for burglary.
While Shaun Weiss continued his personal battle to overcome his challenges, one of the constants
in his story has remained the involvement of his friends.
After his 2017 arrest for meth possession, it was reported that the former Mighty Ducks
star was apparently in possession of credit cards belonging to an unnamed friend, who
refused to press charges.
Another friend reportedly found Weiss sleeping on her porch.
However, when she tried to get him help, he reportedly distanced himself from her and
his other friends.
When Weiss informed the world that he was entering rehab on Facebook, he made sure to
apologize to those he'd put through the ringer and to those whose trust he'd betrayed.
He even managed to again sneak a joke into the post about not being able to replace something
that he damaged.
Yet, in spite of any issues he might have had with his friends, several of them have
stood behind him.
Gallagher wrote in a 2020 Facebook post that he had been helping Weiss for three years,
citing the number of times he tried to help him detox and battle his addiction.
Just over a year after the Rite Aid arrest, Weiss' name was back in the headlines, having
been arrested for alleged residential burglary in January 2020.
According to TMZ, the former Mighty Ducks star, who reportedly appeared to be under
the influence of meth, was apparently found by cops going through a vehicle parked in
a private garage.
Speaking to Fox 40, the homeowner in question, Lou Benninger, described the incident that
led to Weiss' arrest:
"He just took this hammer and knocked the window out."
Fortunately even though Benniger was armed, he didn't feel threatened enough to use force,
and called the police.
Weiss was held at the Yuba County Jail on $52,500 bail.
According to a TMZ report in January 2020, Weiss, then 41, had been struggling with numerous
problems besides drug addiction, including diabetes and potentially mental illness.
At the time, Weiss was also reportedly homeless and in survival mode, with his property often
stolen or vandalized on the streets.
Someone even bought him a van to live in...
"You know you've been homeless too long when being the creepy guy in the van is a step
up."
...but unfortunately it was allegedly set on fire.
Weiss' friends also reportedly explained that along with rehab, he needed extensive medical
work, including dental since he had unfortunately lost most of his teeth by that point.
His friend Drew Gallagher spoke to People magazine about the situation, saying,
"There's not a blameless Shaun Weiss here, he is definitely to blame for a lot of stupid
s--- he does...But if you were to spend any time with him you would have a drastically
more compassionate understanding of what he was about...He's just sick and everybody gives
up on him."
While some may view Shaun Weiss' January 2020 arrest as another defeat, many are looking
at the positives of this difficult situation: The Mighty Ducks alum may now get the help
he needs and deserves.
As his friend, Drew Gallagher, noted on Facebook,
"This arrest has saved his life as I couldn't find any place to take him without [an] extensive
waiting list."
Even Lou Benninger, the homeowner who found Weiss in his garage, is hopeful.
He counsels drug addicts in the same county jail that Weiss was booked into, and told
Fox 40:
"I call it a 'God incident.'
You know it's a divine, a divine, he needed help, and I can help."
TMZ reports that another unlikely source offered Weiss $60,000 to cover expenses for a medically-assisted
detox and therapy treatment program in Texas - Lindsay Lohan's father, Michael.
At the time of this writing, it's uncertain whether or not the court will allow Weiss
to travel out of California for treatment.
However, having set up a GoFundMe campaign called Save Goldberg, Shaun Weiss Treatment
Fund, Gallagher shared an update with fans in February 2020:
"The court accepted [Weiss'] request for drug-court.
Over the next two-to-three weeks they will assess him and formulate a mandatory treatment
plan and reconvene with said plan on March 3rd."
He posted a follow-up message on March 26 to announce that Weiss is, quote, "thriving"
in his new facility.
Those looking to help Weiss, who Gallagher has said is touched by his fans' ongoing support,
have been invited to send any financial support to this campaign.
If there's one thing fans know, it's that ducks fly together.
"Quack quack quack quack quack quack quack quack!
Gooooo Ducks!"
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please call the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Administration's 24/7 National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
That's 1-800-662-4357.