Disney Channel Stars’ Biggest Scandals and Controversies Through the Years

Credit: Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic; TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

Disney Channel Stars’ Biggest Scandals and Controversies Through the Years

Not all Disney Channel stars keep their Mickey Mouse ears on straight. Miley Cyrus, who rose to fame as the title character on Hannah Montana from 2006 to 2011, is one of the more outspoken former Disney darlings. The “Mother’s Daughter” songstress isn’t afraid to reflect on her past behavior, including getting caught smoking a bong before her Disney Channel series wrapped. “One time I went backstage at Disneyland, and Peter Pan was smoking a cigarette. And I was like, ‘That’s me. That’s the kind of dreams I’m crushing,’” Cyrus told Elle in July 2019. “That’s how everyone felt with the bong video, but I’m not a Disney mascot. I’m a person.” Joe Jonas also reflected on his time at with network. The DNCE frontman and his brothers starred in the Disney Channel Original Movies Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 and landed two seasons of their own series, Jonas L.A. [jwplayer URcqVH57-l3ahXupL] "Disney is great at creating fame. They've done it with so many pop stars and young actors, from Hilary Duff to the High School Musical crew,” the Jonas Brothers singer told New York magazine in December 2013. “Miley Cyrus played an already-famous pop star on a Disney show, Hannah Montana, and as we were starting to blow up, we got a boost by playing ourselves, as her favorite band on her own show. … That was definitely our first major love shown by Disney, and I think it might have been a trial to see whether they should give us a show of our own, and they did.” Jonas, however, admitted that “being a part of a company like that comes with certain expectations.” “Not overtly, but there was a subtle vibe,” he explained at the time. “We were working with Disney in 2007 when the Vanessa Hudgens nude photo scandal happened. We heard that she had to be in the Disney offices for a whole day because they were trying to figure out how to keep her on lockdown. We'd hear execs talking about it, and they would tell us that they were so proud of us for not making the same mistakes, which made us feel like we couldn't ever mess up. We didn't want to disappoint anyone — our parents, our fans, our employers — so we put incredible pressure on ourselves, the kind of pressure that no teenager should be under." Scroll through to relive the most talked-about Disney Channel scandals:

Credit: Gregg DeGuire/FilmMagic; TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

Disney Channel Stars’ Biggest Scandals and Controversies Through the Years

Not all Disney Channel stars keep their Mickey Mouse ears on straight. Miley Cyrus, who rose to fame as the title character on Hannah Montana from 2006 to 2011, is one of the more outspoken former Disney darlings. The “Mother’s Daughter” songstress isn’t afraid to reflect on her past behavior, including getting caught smoking a bong before her Disney Channel series wrapped. “One time I went backstage at Disneyland, and Peter Pan was smoking a cigarette. And I was like, ‘That’s me. That’s the kind of dreams I’m crushing,’” Cyrus told Elle in July 2019. “That’s how everyone felt with the bong video, but I’m not a Disney mascot. I’m a person.” Joe Jonas also reflected on his time at with network. The DNCE frontman and his brothers starred in the Disney Channel Original Movies Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2 and landed two seasons of their own series, Jonas L.A. [jwplayer URcqVH57-l3ahXupL] "Disney is great at creating fame. They've done it with so many pop stars and young actors, from Hilary Duff to the High School Musical crew,” the Jonas Brothers singer told New York magazine in December 2013. “Miley Cyrus played an already-famous pop star on a Disney show, Hannah Montana, and as we were starting to blow up, we got a boost by playing ourselves, as her favorite band on her own show. … That was definitely our first major love shown by Disney, and I think it might have been a trial to see whether they should give us a show of our own, and they did.” Jonas, however, admitted that “being a part of a company like that comes with certain expectations.” “Not overtly, but there was a subtle vibe,” he explained at the time. “We were working with Disney in 2007 when the Vanessa Hudgens nude photo scandal happened. We heard that she had to be in the Disney offices for a whole day because they were trying to figure out how to keep her on lockdown. We'd hear execs talking about it, and they would tell us that they were so proud of us for not making the same mistakes, which made us feel like we couldn't ever mess up. We didn't want to disappoint anyone — our parents, our fans, our employers — so we put incredible pressure on ourselves, the kind of pressure that no teenager should be under." Scroll through to relive the most talked-about Disney Channel scandals:

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Vanessa Hudgens’ Coronavirus Comments

The actress came under fire in March 2020 when she made insensitive comments about the global coronavirus pandemic. 

“It’s a virus, I get it. I respect it,” she said on Instagram Live at the time. "But at the same time, like, even if everybody gets it … yeah, people are gonna die. Which is terrible but, like, inevitable?”

Hudgens later apologized. "I’m so sorry for the way I have offended anyone and everyone who has seen the clip from my Instagram live yesterday,” she said. “I realize my words were insensitive and not at all appropriate for the situation our country and the world are in right now. This has been a huge wake up call about the significance my words have, now more than ever. I’m sending safe wishes to everyone to stay safe and healthy during this crazy time.” 

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Zac Efron Drops Condom on the Red Carpet

Four years after the final film in the High School Musical franchise aired, a condom accidentally fell out of Efron’s pocket at the premiere of The Lorax in February 2012.

“I never really had a pocket-checking policy prior to going on the red carpet before, but now we fully instated one,” Efron joked on the Today show after the incident. “[Sex safe] is a great message to add to the many messages of the film.” 

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Demi Lovato Punches a Backup Dancer

Back in 2010, Lovato made headlines for punching backup dancer Alex Welch in the face on a plane while on the Camp Rock 2 tour with the Jonas Brothers. The incident prompted the singer to check into treatment for the first time for substance abuse issues. 

“She had already boarded the plane. I just went up to her and it was like a blur,” Lovato recalled about the incident in her 2017 documentary Simply Complicated. “Everyone was freaking out. I just remember going and sitting down, texting my mom, ‘I’m sorry.’ And I slept the whole day. I just came to a breaking point.”

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Miley Cyrus' 'Vanity Fair' Cover

The then-15-year-old Disney star came under fire in 2008 for posing for the cover of Vanity Fair wearing nothing but a satin sheet. While Cyrus apologized at the time, she changed her tune on the 10-year anniversary of the controversy. 

"IM NOT SORRY. F—-K YOU,” she tweeted alongside a 2008 issue of the New York Post, which ran the photo alongside the headline “Miley’s Shame.”  

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Miley Cyrus' Bong Video

The Hannah Montana star made headlines again before the Disney series wrapped when a video of her smoking salvia from a bong leaked in December 2010.

"I'm not perfect," she told Marie Claire after the scandal. "I made a mistake. I'm disappointed in myself for disappointing my fans. … They're not Miley Cyrus. They're not role models. So for me it was a bad decision, because of my fans and because of what I stand for."

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Vanessa Hudgens’ Nude Photos

The same year High School Musical premiered on Disney Channel, Hudgens was the victim of a nude photo hack.

“I want to apologize to my fans, whose support and trust means the world to me,” she said in a statement in 2007. “I am embarrassed over this situation and regret having ever taken these photos.”

More than a decade later, Hudgens reflected on the scandal during an interview on the “Awards Chatter” podcast, admitting she was “mortified” and “terrified.”

“As a young woman, you’re figuring yourself out too. I have no regrets, but it was definitely a time where I hid out even more,” she said in April 2019. “There were probably 30 paparazzi stumbling over each other to try and get the shot [outside my hotel room]. … It was just one of those times where I was just like, ‘I want to die.’… It felt very unfair.”

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Debby Ryan's DUI

The Jessie star was booked for driving under the influence in June 2016. After pleading no contest to a charge of reckless driving, Ryan was placed on three years' probation and ordered to complete a DUI program and community service. 

"Over the last few days I have had the chance to think about my actions, and I wish I had used better judgement,” Ryan tweeted at the time. “I recognize that I am a role model and have always worked hard to set a good example for my millions of fans. I am so sorry to disappoint everyone."

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Joe Jonas Reveals He Smoked Weed for First Time With Miley and Demi

The Jonas Brothers singer claimed during a December 2013 interview with New York magazine that fellow Disney stars Cyrus and Lovato peer pressured him to smoke weed for the first time. 

"I must have been 17 or 18. They kept saying, ‘Try it! Try it!' so I gave it a shot, and it was all right," Jonas said at the time. "I don't even smoke weed that often anymore."

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Mitchell Musso’s DUI

The former Hannah Montana star was arrested and charged with two counts of drunk driving in October 2011. Musso struck a plea deal in February 2012, agreeing to 36 months of informal probation, alcohol education classes and a fine of $1,000.

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Shia LaBeouf’s Bizarre Behavior

The Even Stevens alum made headlines in 2014 after he arrived at the Cannes Film Festival wearing a bag on his head that read, “I am not famous anymore.” LaBeouf gave a series of cryptic and bizarre interviews in the following months.

In October 2015, the actor was booked for public intoxication in Austin, Texas, and spent the night in jail. A month later, he invited fans to join him for an all-night movie marathon of his own films.