In one week, Lindsay Lohan’s probation was revoked, Shia LaBeouf got into a bar fight, and a Hannah Montana alum drove under the influence. See former members of the Mickey Mouse club who’ve gotten into trouble.
In his early teens, Los Angeles-born Shia LaBeouf, who had a difficult upbringing, was making the stand-up rounds anywhere he could. But in 1999, he struck gold, signing on as the star of Disney Channel’s Even Stevens as Louis, the youngest—and most immature—member of the Sacramento-based Stevens family. For three seasons, LaBeouf took on the role of the token troublemaker and remembers Even Stevens fondly. “I grew up on that show and it was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Took me out of my house, it was real dramatic at that time,” he told the Associated Press in 2007. “When the show came along it was a savior. It saved my life, my family’s life.” Next, LaBeouf earned the lead in Disney’s film adaptation of Holes and soon enough, he became the action star that most people recognize him as. “I feel like my childhood was kind of lost. It was adulthood right away,” LaBeouf told the AP, turning over his right arm to reveal a “1986-2004” tattoo on the inside of his wrist, denoting the first 18 years of his life. But it wasn’t until he turned 21 that the legal trouble started: in November 2007, he was arrested for misdemeanor criminal trespassing at a Chicago Walgreen’s; in February 2008, he was ticketed for unlawful smoking; in July of that year, he was arrested for misdemeanor drunk driving and his driver's license was suspended for one year. Though he had an incident-free 2009 and 2010, this year, LaBeouf been fighting in bars across country lines. In February 2011, he got into a fight in Los Angeles and was handcuffed and then this October, he got into another booze-fueled brawl in Vancouver. The former typical younger brother type told The Guardian in 2009: “I seem to like to kiss trouble on the forehead and then try to back away.”
These days, it’s difficult to remember Lindsay Lohan as the freckle-faced, ginger-haired, adorable 11-year-old in Disney’s 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. Two years later, she starred opposite Tyra Banks in Disney’s TV movie Life-Size, about a motherless tomboy who accidentally brings a doll to life. Then in 2002, she signed on for Disney Channel’s original movie, Get a Clue, in which she played a high-school student investigating the disappearance of her teacher. Not too long after she hung up her mouse ears, Lohan’s on-set behavior became tabloid fodder and rumors of drug habits, older boyfriends, and family drama swirled. In 2006, a Vanity Fair article claimed she was acting “un-Disney-like.” A year later, two DUI incidents and three rehab stints put a once-promising career in shambles. Ever since, she has barely been out of the courtroom or rehab, nor has she been able to book a successful project. In the latest of her legal woes, Lohan, who was serving probation for one of the 2007 drunk-driving incidents and the misdemeanor jewelry theft from earlier this year, had her probation revoked. On Wednesday, she was handcuffed and sent into custody for failing to perform mandatory community service at the L.A. County Morgue.
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As Hannah Montana’s goofy male sidekick Oliver Oken, Mitchel Musso was Miley Cyrus’s literal punching bag—his jokes often were met by light punches. He suffered from stage fright, had a chewing-gum phobia, and cherished his only chest hair. When Hannah Montana came to an end, Musso decided to pursue a music career and started filming a new show, Pair of Kings, for DisneyXD. He’s still a part of the show and almost signed on to host Disney Channel’s PrankStars. Before October 2011, his most scandalous moment was an episode of Hannah Montana that exposed his character’s diabetes—which was pulled. But that has all changed. Twenty-year-old Musso was busted for drunk driving around 3 a.m. Monday morning in Burbank, Calif., when he failed to follow an officer’s traffic directions. The officer who pulled him over said there was a “strong odor of alcohol,” according to TMZ. Turned out Musso “was well over the 0.08 limit,” an officer told E! News. But after a few hours in jail, he was freed without having to pay $5,000 bail, since his record was clean. Unfortunately for him, Disney, which hasn’t released a statement, may not let him off so easy.
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Though Demi Lovato began her career bonding with a big purple dinosaur—and future Disney Channel star Selena Gomez—on the set of Barney & Friends, it was red-shorts-sporting Mickey Mouse that made her famous. In 2007, she earned a role opposite the Jonas Brothers in the Disney Channel’s massive hit original movie, Camp Rock, and the lead in the Disney Channel’s then-upcoming series Sonny with a Chance. Soon enough, she became one of Disney’s biggest stars, and once again teamed up with Gomez for one of Disney’s highest-rated TV movies ever, Princess Protection Program. In 2009, she starred in the Camp Rock sequel and began dating one of the kings of Disney, Joe Jonas, with whom she toured for a while, until she left abruptly in October 2010 to enter treatment for a “physical and emotional issue.” She reportedly got into a physical altercation with one of the Jonas Brothers’ back-up dancers, who told the Disney star’s management about some of Lovato’s inappropriate behavior. Lovato completed inpatient treatment in January, and in April, she opened up to the world about battling bulimia, self-injury, drugs, and alcohol. Lovato didn’t return to Sonny with a Chance, causing the show to undergo a major overhaul. “It’s kind of sad for me that a chapter of my life has ended but there couldn’t be a better time for me to move on,” Lovato told People. “I don't think going back to Sonny would be healthy for my recovery.”
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The princess of pop was just 8 years old the first time she auditioned for The Mickey Mouse Club. Though she was too young for the part, Britney Spears’ second time was the charm, and she was cast on the Disney series just a few years later. She starred—along with Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell, and Christina Aguilera—on The Mickey Mouse Club until it was canceled in 1994, and performed skits, songs, and dances. But when Spears reemerged on Americans’ TV sets in 1998—with a “not that innocent” schoolgirl look and seductive dance moves—she was no longer Disney clean. She had a Chaotic marriage (and two children) with dancer Kevin Federline. The marriage came to an end in November 2006. And after that, Spears was never the same. The then-25-year-old pop star made a very public cry for help when she shaved her blonde locks off at a California salon as paparazzi snapped photos in early 2007. In the following weeks, she began treatment at Promises rehabilitation facility. “I truly hit rock bottom. Till this day I don't think that it was alcohol or depression," Spears wrote on her blog after her month-long stay. "I was like a bad kid running around with ADD." The pop star also lost custody of her children, which she eventually regained, but Spears’ father, James was granted conservatorship of her personal and financial affairs, which he still has, though his daughter is now 29.
Disney; X17
As the shy, wholesome new girl in Disney Channel’s High School Musical series—as well as Zac Efron’s then-girlfriend both on- and off-screen—Vanessa Hudgens won over America. But shortly after the second film was released in the summer of 2007, photos surfaced of the then-16-year-old Hudgens posing nude, and in lingerie. Though many thought Disney wouldn’t stand for Hudgens’ behavior, the company welcomed her back for more musical magic with a third High School Musical. The Walt Disney Company released a statement saying: “Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she's learned a valuable lesson.” But she didn’t. In August 2009, a new set of a photos, featuring a topless Hudgens, surfaced online. Her representatives didn’t comment, but her lawyers requested the photos, which had been stolen from her private phone, be taken off the World Wide Web. “It's screwed up that someone screwed me over like that,” Hudgens told Allure later that year. “At least some people are learning from my mistake." Still, apparently, that person still wasn’t the actress. In March of this year, more nude photos were released, plus a video. Hopefully, third time’s the charm.
Like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera wasn’t cast on The Mickey Mouse Club the first time she auditioned, but she was impressive enough the second time around to earn a spot on the Disney series. And also like Spears, Aguilera reemerged in the late ‘90s with a pop album and sexy new image. Aguilera remained relatively scandal-free throughout the majority of her career, and got married to a music executive named Jordan Bratman, with whom she had a son. But the marriage dissolved in 2010 and Aguilera began dating Matt Rutler, one of the production assistants from her film, Burlesque. Soon, reports began swirling about Aguilera’s wild behavior and excessive drinking. In March 2011, she was arrested with Rutler for public intoxication in West Hollywood, but was released on bail, and no charges were filed.
Disney; AP Photo
At 11 years old, the daughter of country-music star Billy Ray Cyrus learned about the casting for a Disney Channel children’s television series about an average schoolgirl with a secret double life as a teen pop star. Miley Cyrus sent in a tape and was called to audition for the lead (then “Chloe Stewart”) in Hollywood, and she eventually won the starring role of the renamed Miley Stewart. In 2006, Hannah Montana (the name of Stewart’s famous alter ego), premiered to Disney Channel’s largest audience ever for a show. As the rating’s continued to rise so did Cyrus’s star power. But in December 2007, Cyrus’ first of many controversies arose, when a photo of her sharing licorice with a female friend surfaced. Though the image was seemingly innocent, in April 2008, exponentially more provocative pictures of Cyrus in underwear and bikinis leaked online. Cyrus released a statement, saying, “I am going to make mistakes and I am not perfect. I never intended for any of this to happen and I am truly sorry if I have disappointed anyone.” But she caused uproar again shortly thereafter, thanks to a racy photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz for Vanity Fair.. The president of entertainment for Disney Channel Worldwide told Portfolio of the scandal: “Parents have invested in her a godliness. If she violates that trust, she won't get it back” and soon thereafter, Cyrus apologized, as did Leibovitz. The following year, at the Teen Choice Awards, a pole dance she did to her hit “Party in the U.S.A.” caused outrage, and in 2010 a video of Cyrus giving her movie producer a lap dance went viral and then, another of her smoking salvia from a bong had parents up in arms. Though Hannah Montana’s final episode aired in early 2011, Cyrus’ Disney-appropriate behavior ended long before that.
