Since its inception in the early 1980s, the Disney Channel has made notable stars of numerous
child actors.
However, for every former Disney star that still maintains success, there are several
others who have now washed up shells of their former selves.
From Shia LaBeouf to Lindsay Lohan, join Trender as we explore why these former Disney stars
are completely washed up today.
Christy Carlson Romano The first two former Disney stars that we’ll
be taking a look at in this video played siblings on the hit Disney sitcom Even Stevens.
Let’s start with Christy Carlson Romano, who played sister Ren Stevens on the show.
Christy played the character of Ren Stevens on the show for all of its three seasons,
from 2000 to 2003.
In 2003, she appeared in the made-for-television feature The Even Stevens Movie.
Besides portraying the role of Ren Stevens, Christy was also known to Disney Channel fans
as the voice of the titular character on the animated series Kim Possible.
Despite Christy’s plentiful success with Disney at a young age, which also saw her
performing the theme song for the animated series Teacher’s Pet and appearing in Disney
Channel features such as Cadet Kelly, Christy hasn’t maintained her stardom into her adulthood.
While Christy Carlson Romano isn’t nearly as big of a star as she was during her childhood
years on the Disney Channel, she’s still around!
Christy appeared on Broadway in Beauty and the Beast and Avenue Q, and has recently rebranded
herself as a YouTube vlogger.
Some of Christy’s most popular videos detail how she lost all her money from her Disney
Channel days, and other bad experiences she had with the company.
Shia LaBeouf On Even Stevens, Christy played the brother
of Louis Stevens, who was played by Shia LaBeouf.
While Shia certainly went on to find more major success after his Disney days than his
former on-screen sister, he’s a controversial enough figure that he deserves his own place
on this video!
According to Christy, she’s often asked if she and Shia LaBeouf are still close, to
which she replies that they never really were.
After making a name for himself as a kid on the Disney Channel, Shia broke out into Hollywood
success with his role as Sam Witwicky in the Transformers film series.
While Shia’s role as Sam Witwicky in the Transformers series certainly brought him
a lot of money and notoriety, there were many fans of the franchise that felt that Shia’s
performance was the worst part.
The films were not all that positively received despite the immense amount of money they pulled
in, and one of their most derided elements was Shia’s character.
Shia also showed up in the fourth Indiana Jones film, titled Indiana Jones and the Kingdom
of the Crystal Skull.
Fans of Indiana Jones generally despised the film, and people once again considered Shia’s
character to be one of the much-derided film’s worst aspects.
Shia LaBeouf continued to show up in big Hollywood movies to much of the audience’s chagrin.
Meanwhile, the actor began attracting controversies in his personal life thanks to his erratic
behavior.
As time went on, Shia became known for his tabloid exploits more than his actual performances,
with much of this erratic behavior being fuelled by drug use.
Despite his many controversies, Shia came back into the spotlight in 2019 with the film
Honey Boy, which he wrote, produced, and starred in.
The film tells the real-life story of how Shia’s father pushed him into show business,
with Shia LaBeouf taking on the role of his own father.
More recently, Shia has once again come under controversy as a result of allegations that
have been brought up against him from former flame FKA Twigs.
The female pop singer has claimed that Shia was incredibly abusive towards her during
a relationship that they shared, with the allegations suggesting that Shia knowingly
infected her with an STD and likes to shoot stray dogs for fun.
It remains to be seen whether or not Shia LaBeouf will continue to be able to rise above
the controversies that have plagued him over his career, but the star is certainly a good
ways away from being as universally beloved as he was during his kid days.
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Orlando Brown Orlando Brown is a familiar face to Disney
Channel fans thanks to his time portraying the character of Eddie on the hit sitcom That’s
So Raven.
Orlando also leaned his voice to the animated series The Proud Family.
However, Orlando didn’t return to provide his voice for the latter series’ recent
Disney+ reboot, and for good reason!
Not long after his time on the Disney Channel came to an end, Orlando Brown started attracting
attention for all the wrong reasons.
In 2007, Orlando was arrested after he was caught possessing illicit substances.
Several years later, Orlando was arrested for drunk driving on two different occasions,
with one arrest occurring in 2011 and the other in 2013.
The following year, in 2014, Orlando publicly threatened a woman and her child, resulting
in further legal charges.
Two years later, Orlando was caught in 2016 allegedly beating up his fiancée in a parking
lot.
The two were apparently in the midst of an intense argument, and things got so heated
that Orlando started getting physical.
When Orlando was arrested and brought to the station for the assault, it was found that
Orlando once again had illicit substances on his person, which made the situation even
worse for him.
Despite all of the tough times that Orlando put himself through following his Disney Channel
success, the former Disney star has apparently managed to turn himself around with the help
of religion.
Orlando has now given up his addiction to illicit substances and has put his rap skills
to use for the good of the Lord!
Orlando has always been a rapper as a hobbyist, and would often showcase his rap skills while
portraying the character of Eddie on That’s So Raven.
Lindsay Lohan Unlike the aforementioned stars, Lindsay Lohan
first broke out onto the scene with a role in a Disney feature that was released on the
big screen.
That feature was the company’s 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, which featured Lindsay
in the dual role of twins Annie and Hallie.
The young girl’s ability to distinctly portray two similar characters didn’t go unnoticed
by the critics, and many rightfully predicted that big things were waiting in the future
for Lindsay Lohan.
Following her success in the 1998 adaptation of The Parent Trap, which was released the
month of her 12th birthday, Lindsay Lohan continued to be used by Disney in notable
big-screen features.
Several years after The Parent Trap’s release, Lindsay showed up in another notable remake
of an old Disney feature, with the feature in question this time being Freaky Friday.
Featuring Lindsay portraying the daughter role to Jamie Lee Curtis’s mother, the film
was as successful as The Parent Trap had been prior and solidified Lindsay’s status as
a Disney star to look out for.
In 2004, Lindsay Lohan broke out into mainstream popularity with her role in the cult classic
comedy film Mean Girls.
However, as Lindsay began breaking away from her Disney roots, she began attracting controversies
thanks to some decidedly erratic behavior.
It seems that like many before and since, Lindsay was anxious to leave behind the kid-friendly
image that had been imposed on her during her tenure at Disney.
Whereas stars such as Miley Cyrus have been able to make this transition more smoothly,
Lindsay sadly found herself being known more for her tabloid exposure than for her actual
artistic achievements.
Into the 2010s, things got pretty bad for Lindsay as she veered further away from the
spotlight and further into the darker corners of substance abuse.
However, it seems that things are turning up for the former Disney star as of late,
at least in her personal life!
Though it remains to be seen if Lindsay will ever make a full-blown return to the spotlight,
she has said goodbye to many of her bad habits and is living a relatively peaceful life outside
of the public eye.
Jake T. Austin Jake T. Austin is another former Disney star
that has come into some serious trouble with the law after his time with the company.
To most Disney Channel fans, Jake will be best known for his time portraying the character
of Max on Wizards of Waverly Place.
After his time on that successful Disney series came to an end, Jake was given a role on another
cable series, with this one being an ABC Family series by the name of The Fosters.
Sadly, this continued television success wasn’t enough to keep Jake from having a mental breakdown
in 2014 after a staffer behind the scenes at the Teen Choice Awards didn’t recognize
him.
Following Jake’s 2014 meltdown at the Teen Choice Awards, the former Disney star’s
behavior has only gotten worse.
The former child star has been involved in four separate hit-and-run accidents and has
also been arrested for drunk driving.
Nowadays, not much is heard from Jake, which can be considered a good thing given his history!
The actor’s last role was performing the voice of the main character in 2017’s much-derided
The Emoji Movie, though it still appears that he’s appearing in projects sporadically
up until today.
While most child stars hope that their time on the Disney Channel will catapult them to
mainstream success for the rest of their lives, this sadly isn’t often the case.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that numerous former Disney stars have
become addicted to illicit substances and that more of them have become washed up than
have found continued success in their adult years?
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