2024 has been a revealing year when it comes to the issue of the treatment of child actors, especially when referring to the entertainment giants of Nickelodeon and the Disney Channel.
Earlier this year, the documentary series Quiet on Set brought to light for the first time over 30 years’ worth of allegations involving producers on Nickelodeon, primarily focusing on longtime mega-producer Dan Schneider. What had long been internet rumors were shown as instead a best-case scenario, highlighting a disturbing pattern of behavior Schneider showed in his relationship with several teenager actors.
The series even revealed for the first time that actor Drake Bell alleges he was the victim of rape and sexual assault by former actor/producer Brian Peck in the early 2000s. The series certainly made viewers ask deeper questions about the conduct of what happened to children on the set of some of the most popular show for teens.
Actress and Singer Demi Lovato is no stranger to being an example of child stars gone bad. Her latest project from Hulu argues that several stars from the Disney Channel were also victims of abuse.
Lovato, who co-directs and appears in the new Hulu documentary Child Star, discussed the trials of early fame but also highlights some major problems the actress dealt with as a teenager growing up on the network. In the past, Lovato claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a costar in a Disney movie she filmed in the late 2000s. Lovato claimed she lost her virginity to someone who raped her when she was a teenager and said that it was someone else from the Disney world. The offender faced no consequences whatsoever in Lovato’s telling.
Demi’s life continued to spiral after this. She says she got into drugs, which led to her 2018 heroin overdose that almost ended her life after three strokes and a heart attack. Lovato talks about the more traumatic moments of her life with other child stars who suffered similar fates.
Demi’s Camp Rock co-star Alyson Stoner bonded with Lovato over their respective eating disorders and shared experiences with sexual abuse. Stoner, who now identities as queer, admitted that she was abused after being suckered by an influencer who promised a “business opportunity” as a young adult. The abuse led to a rape where Stoner was the victim and the trauma has left a lasting impression on her.
Watch Stoner talk about this here:
Because of the past abuse they suffered, both Lovato and Stoner have admitted to not remembering large portions of their Disney career.
“It was part of my disassociation that I don’t even remember so much of my show that I was on,” Lovato says. “But I do remember how difficult I was to work with, because I was in so much pain, and I was hurting.”
Dissociation and disassociation are common terms used by mental health experts for those who’ve been through trauma and separate themselves from the experience. Lovato and Stoner are also members of the LGBT community, which has experienced a large percentage of both physical and sexual abuse for people in that subgroup.
Sadly, there has been a number of Disney Channel based horror stories with child actors who have either gone through major trauma in their lives or are no longer with us. The Famous Jett Jackson star Lee Thompson Young committed suicide in 2013 before his 30th birthday. The Jersey star Michael Galeota passed away in 2016 at the age of 31 due to health issues rumored to be linked to alcohol abuse.
Other tragic stories include the downfall of Disney stars such as Lalaine, whose career burned out after a methamphetamine arrest in 2007. That’s So Raven star Orlando Brown has been plagued with a series of arrests on drug charges and assault.
Stars such as Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Raven Symone, Amanda Bynes, Christy Carlson Romano, and others have proven to be among the many cautionary tales on the dangerous path Hollywood has taken children on for several decades. No matter how you feel about Demi Lovato as a personality, you can’t deny that the direction of her life was directly impacted by what she experienced being a teenage actor in the entertainment business.
What is your take on questionable history with child stars in Hollywood?
Child Star is available now on Hulu.