Disney is a movie, TV, and music making machine. A plethora of stars have cut their teeth working for Disney, be it in a blockbuster hit or as part of The Mickey Mouse Show. While being a Disney star may look all fun and games, it can be a little restricting. It’s easy to forget that some of Hollywood’s hottest sensations came from innocent kids TV beginnings, isn’t it?
Disney has a reputation as a wholesome brand, entertaining children for centuries with good clean fun. It’s only natural that their stars be a reflection of that, and maintain a holier than thou image. After all, a bad mark on the star is a bad mark on the brand – and that can cost money.
But what happens when the stars move on from Disney to pastures new? Everyone grows up and these stars have taken it to the extreme, shredding their squeaky-clean images and trading them in for stints in rehab, controversial movies, sexy photoshoots and much more. It’s like the days of Disney never happened for these guys, they’re buried so deeply in the past we hardly remember it.
From hair ribbons and shiny shoes to lingerie and lots of booze, let’s take a look at 15 Disney Stars Who Are No Longer PG.
15. ZAC EFRON
Zac Efron is arguably one of the most famous actors working today. Now all grown up, Efron got his big break starring in the mega popular High School Musical franchise. If you were a teenager in the 00’s, it’s likely you had the pencil case. As the years progressed and Efron’s star status kept building momentum, his clean-cut persona got left behind. In 2013 he checked himself into rehab after developing a cocaine habit. It was reported that Efron and his friends caused over $50,000 worth of damage to a hotel room at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, while on a cocaine fuelled bender. Thankfully, these days Efron is in good shape, clean and smoking hot.
14. LINDSAY LOHAN
Who can forget little Lindsay Lohan. Lohan starred in a host of Disney movies and it skyrocketed her career. Moving on from roles in The Parent Trap, Freaky Friday and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Lohan kissed her image goodbye when she began her journey on a downward spiral that would last years (is it even over now, though?) There are almost too many misdemeanors to mention, from drug charges and DUI’s to court appearances and even jail. Lohan is also notoriously hard to work with, and coupled with her erratic behaviour, her career went spectacularly down the pan. We’re rooting for you, Lindsay.
13. MISCHA BARTON
Perhaps one of the saddest downfalls of all, actress Mischa Barton starred in Disney movie Ring of Endless Light in 2002, before being cast in her career defining role as Marissa Cooper in The O.C. After The O.C ended, things just went from bad to worse for Barton and her image has never quite recovered. In 2007 she was arrested for DUI and driving without a valid license. Two short years later, she checked herself in to the Cedars-Sinai Medical center psychiatric ward as she was trying to repress suicidal tendencies. Despite continuing to be a fashion icon, the 31-year-old keeps a low profile these days, tending to shy away from blockbusters and act in smaller independent films. The jury is out on whether that’s her choice, though.
12. SHIA LABEOUF
A young Shia LaBeouf came on to our screens in Breakfast with Einstein, before rising to stardom through the award-winning show Even Stevens. While Shia went on to star in huge films like Transformers with Megan Fox, he has had his fair share of woes too. In 2007 LaBeouf took a trip to a Chicago Walgreens, where he was arrested after worried staff called the police when he appeared intoxicated and wouldn’t leave the store. The following year, he had his driver’s license revoked following a DUI. If that weren’t enough, there are two separate incidents were LaBeouf has got himself into drunken bar brawls. Of course, they were highly publicized. In recent years LaBeouf keeps a fairly low profile, veering more toward performance art.
11. VANESSA HUDGENS
Zac Efron’s co-star and one-time girlfriend, Vanessa Hudgens also cut her teeth in High School Musical. The stunning brunette suffered misfortune multiple times when nude photos of her were leaked online in 2007, 2009 and 2011. Not very Disney, right? Hudgens went on to star alongside Pretty Little Liars Ashley Benson and fellow Disney prodigy Selena Gomez in the risqué 2012 movie, Spring Breakers. The movie followed the friends as they get up to all sorts of debauchery, including robbery, murder and threesomes. If you’re wondering where the title of this article came from, now you know – because that for sure wasn’t PG.
10. FERGIE
Yep, it’s true. Former Black Eyed Peas member Fergie also came out of the Disney factory. After starring in Kids Incorporated, Fergie went on to join girl group Wild Orchid. While Wild Orchid was a success, with US Weekly including the band on their 25 Greatest Girl Bands of All Time list, it all soon descended into chaos when Fergie started dabbling with drugs. The habit quickly turned into a fully-fledged addiction to crystal meth and after the band was dropped from their label, she left too. Thankfully Fergie got herself together and joined forces with the Black Eyed Peas, whom she officially left this year to concentrate on her solo career.
9. BRITNEY SPEARS
It would be impossible to leave Britney out, wouldn’t it? Mickey Mouse Club alum Britney found international fame with her debut single Baby One More Time. Over the following years, Britney enjoyed a lucrative career, openly admitting at a press conference that she was a virgin (before Justin Timberlake swooped in and took care of that). Fewer things have been publicized more than this pop princess’ fall from grace. Among many antics, Spears married a childhood friend in Vegas and it lasted just 55 hours, her messy divorce from dancer Kevin Federline, publicly attacking paparazzi and let’s not forget when she shaved her hair clean off in 2007. Britney bounced back though and is in better shape than ever after a two year residency at Planet Hollywood.
8. CHRISTINA AGUILERA
Christina Aguilera also has The Mickey Club to thank for kick starting her career. In the 90’s, you were either team Britney or team Christina. Just like Brit, Christina found fame right off the bat with her first single Genie in a Bottle. While there was a definite sexual undertone in Aguilera’s music, she was the perfect blonde bubblegum pop star. It wasn’t long before she got ‘too dirty to clean her act up’ though, when after a brief hiatus she catapulted back onto the scene with those chaps and that hair in the video for Dirrty. The switch-up certainly ruffled some feathers, with many condemning Aguilera for setting a bad example for young girls. In 2011, Aguilera was arrested for public intoxication, but it’s all been quiet on the western front as of late.
7. MILEY CYRUS
You didn’t think I’d leave Miley out, did you? Oh, Miley, Miley, Miley. Where to start. Star of the uber-popular Hannah Montana, for years it seemed like Miley was going to remain the poster child for Disney. Glossy brunette locks turned to a short bleach blonde ‘do and the Miley we knew was gone forever. Since changing her aesthetic and focusing on pop music, the singer has shown us some very suggestive outfits, had some very opinionated views and openly smokes marijuana. From prancing around on stage with giant penises to swinging around half-naked on a wrecking ball, nothing is off limits.
6. DEMI LOVATO
Cool for the Summer singer Demi Lovato starred in Disney movies As the Bell Rings, Camp Rock and Sonny with a Chance. It’s not been an easy ride for Demi, who has been vocal about her struggles growing up in the limelight. Lovato has spoken publicly about her problems with alcohol, bulimia and self-harm. In 2010 she had to bow out of the Jonas Brothers tour to check herself into rehab for emotional reasons, following on from a physical fight with one of her backing dancers. Demi managed to turn it around and has become an advocate for body positivity. Her career has still gone from strength to strength, proving that there is light at the end of the tunnel, no matter what struggles you’ve faced.
5. BELLA THORNE
Wild child Bella Thorne had a run of seventy-five episodes on the Disney Channel series Shake It Up!, catapulting her into the public eye. Thorne starred in the series with another super famous star, Zendaya. Fast forward a few years and Thorne is a staple on the party scene, trading her Disney image for revealing outfits and hair all colours of the rainbow. In January 2017 the 19-year-old actress came under fire for a rumoured romance with YouTube star Sam Pepper, who was accused by several women of sexual assault in 2016. If that weren’t enough, a few short months later she was spotted getting intimate with Kourtney Kardashian’s lothario ex, Scott Disick. Controversial doesn’t even cut it.
4. HILARY DUFF
Hilary Duff was the star of Disney’s hit show, Lizzie Maguire. The show instantly gained Duff a massive following, and she became the idol of young girls everywhere. Like most girls, Duff soon grew up and started dating – most infamously, bad boy rocker Joel Madden of Good Charlotte. Duff was 16 when she started dating Madden, who was 26 at the time. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Duff admitted that she lost her virginity to her then boyfriend. ‘I had a 26-year-old boyfriend. So, everyone can make their own assumptions about what I was doing.’ These days, Duff stars in the TV series Younger, created by Sex and The City maker, Darren Star. As you can imagine, it contains lots of sex.
3. SELENA GOMEZ
Wizards of Waverly Place alum, Selena Gomez, has come on leaps and bounds since her days starring in the Emmy winning Disney show. Starring in the controversial movie Spring Breakers alongside co-star Demi Lovato was just a stepping stone for the actress. Selena has propelled her career forward with a host of sexually orientated songs, such as Hands to Myself. It’s clear that she’s grown up as she struts around with smokey eyes wearing lingerie in the music video, rolling around on a bed. Gomez also had a highly publicized relationship (and break up) with the bad boy of pop, Justin Bieber.
2. RYAN GOSLING
It’s easy to forget that Hollywood megastar Ryan Gosling was also part of The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, alongside Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake – but he was there, honest. It took a little while for Ryan to abolish his Disney image, but when he did, he really went for it. In 2001 he played the role of Jewish man turned Neo-Nazi in The Believer. It was that movie that built Ryan’s reputation as a supremely talented actor, but it was his roles in movies like Crazy Stupid Love and The Notebook that cemented his status as one of the hottest men alive. Ryan’s star is still burning bright and he coupled up with another sex symbol, Eva Mendes. One word – FIRE.
1. CAMILLA BELLE
Camilla Belle got her first major role in the 2000 Disney Channel movie, Rip Girls where she played a surfer girl in Hawaii. The 30-year-old actress is best known these days for having had a long-term relationship with Joe Jonas, which ended in 2009. The two met after Belle starred in his bands video for the single Lovebug. While she continues to act, the star hasn’t had many big breaks since, but has done plenty of risqué photoshoots to make sure we all remember that she’s around – and she’s not going anywhere soon. Watch this space, there’s no doubt that the brunette beauty is going straight to the top.
Sources: dailymail.com, cosmopolitan.com popsugar.com