Decade of Disney Star Scandals

By Scott Harris Posted Dec 10th 2009 10:00AM

For nearly a century, the Walt Disney Company has been world renowned for their animation, their family values and their children's entertainment. Now, thanks to the last decade of activity, they've also become dominant in one more public arena: celebrity scandals.

Okay, so maybe that's not quite the reputation that Disney was aiming for, but since the turn of the century, current and former Disney stars have been constantly in the news and not for their wholesome values. Instead it's been one DUI, nude photo or existential meltdown after another.

So how did the Mouse House end up in this position? With the decade winding to a close, we thought this would be a perfect time to take a look back on the mess that can only be called a Decade of Disney Star Scandals.

Ex-Mouseketeer Justin Timberlake is one of the biggest pop stars in the world. It's only fitting, then, that the biggest star should have the biggest scandal: during a live performance at the 2004 Super Bowl, he famously exposed Janet Jackson due to a "wardrobe malfunction". The media firestorm that followed resulted in federal sanctions, widespread handwringing and numerous public apologies from Timberlake.

Timberlake's former girlfriend and fellow Mouseketeer Britney Spears was once among the only musicians who could rival Timberlake's success. Now, however, she's on a level all by herself -- a very, very low level, that is, thanks to a decade of borderline deranged behavior that has included public spats with her baby daddy Kevin Federline, an infamous head shaving and one particularly ill-conceived decision to go commando. Here's hoping Spears manages to get her act together before our 2019 retrospective.

Miley Cyrus vaulted to fame almost overnight as the title character on 'Hannah Montana '. But since becoming a teen icon she's gained even greater fame thanks to a number of more adult scandals, such as her controversial semi-nude photos for Vanity Fair and her pole dancing routine at the Teen Choice Awards of all places. Still, she proved she has a lot of growing up left to do with her mean girl YouTube disses of fellow Disney sensations Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato. Britney would be proud.

Vanessa Hudgens is best known for playing shy brainiac Gabriella Montex in the Disney mega-hit 'High School Musical' film franchise, which is apparently a testament to her acting skills: Hudgens proved she was anything but shy with a batch of nude and provocative photos that hit the internet back in 2007. Hudgens was backed by Disney, who said they believed she had learned her lesson; another bunch of nude photos that landed earlier this fall suggests otherwise.

The Cheetah Girls were supposed to be Disney's version of a wholesome girl band. That wholesome image took a bit of a hit thanks a batch of nude photos starring Cheetah singer Adrienne Bailon. Bailon claimed that the pictures were taken from a stolen laptop, but other sources indicated the entire affair was planned by Bailon as a media stunt. After all, if it worked for Vanessa Hudgens...

Lindsay Lohan started her career off as a winsome and precocious talent in kid fare such as the remake of 'The Parent Trap'. Since reaching her teens, however, the troubled actress has been involved in one scandal after another thanks to her hard partying lifestyle and her public feud with her own mother.

Multiple DUIs, accompanied by drug charges, eventually landed Lohan in jail for 84 minutes. So far.

Compared to some of those that have followed in her footsteps, pop icon Christina Aguilera seems positively saintly. It's instructive to remember, then, that the former Mouseketeer's bad girl image was actually scandalous when she debuted it with 2002's album 'Stripped'.

Considering the scandals that have followed, the outcry over her raunchy lyrics and dance moves shows just how far we have come since -- or how low we have sunk.

Even Disney's second stringers have gotten into the act this decade. You may not be as familiar with them, but Kirsten Storms (from the company's 'Kim Possible' series) and Anneliese van der Pol ('That's So Raven') both starred in their own mini-dramas thanks to separate DUI convictions. Now that's just goofy. Get it? Goofy?

We close out our look at Disney scandals with Zac Efron, who is an interesting object lesson not because of what he has done but because he shows just how much the media want a good scandal to report on. Efron has been the subject of multiple "rumors", including photos that supposedly proved he was gay (he's not) and a sex tape with former girlfriend Vanessa Hudgens that purportedly exists (it doesn't). But don't worry, Zac, this will eventually blow over. After all, there's a new crop of Disney stars coming up through the ranks and we have no doubt that soon enough, one of them will have an actual scandal and take the heat off of you.

Tags: Disney, mouseketeers, walt disney, Walt Disney Co.

Comments

(67)

Thursday 10 December

By Lynne Kratochvil

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Unless they have broken up within the last 48 hours, I do believe Zac and Vanessa are still an item. Pics from ENews and story on Tuesday showed and said they were....but thats not of relative importance anyway. I forgot about a ton of these scandals!

Friday 11 December

By E.West

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

I am disappointed that these talented young people feel it is necessary to scandalize themselves in order to be popular. All it does is turn off parents and keep their children from endorsing their behavior. I feel terribly sorry for the ones who could make a positive difference in our troubled world.

Saturday 12 December

By donna

Vote down Vote up Report this

i i think they never broke up . people just want to be cruel.

By loveyouhotmiley

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Don't blame Miley. Everything she did had to be adult approved. They gave her the pole and cart, they took the pictures and they approve of how she dresses. So the real question is why are adults pimping out someone so young? I guess Disney knows sex sells and Miley is rewarded big time.
Miley is on a Disney TV show and they own her record label. Blame Disney if you don't like how they market Miley.

But don't count Miley out as she is a great talent with great music. And she is beautiful. You can count on more sexy Miley in the future because people are eating it up. Her concerts were almost all sold out and these are big arenas. Her album and merchandise sell like hot cakes and she just had a number one single.

And how did Britney do so bad? She is still a popular multimillionaire. Crazy antics seem to sell almost as much as sex. The people have spoken with their wallets.

By Linda

MIley has Diarrhea of the mouth...she is destined for falling on her face LOL

By bILL

Well Miley's problem is that fella she calls "dad". As you said, " some adult/adults had to approve all she did and does. I do not let my kids watch her anymore and have never been a Billy Ray Cyrus fan.

Yeah it kinda weirded me out when he got Miley a 20 year old boyfriend for her 16th Birthday. And she was still 15 at the time! I'm serious, she wouldn't of have even known this guy if not for her Dad. I still love Miley though.

By Doug

I totaly agree Disney and the parents need to get their heads out of their butts and get a handel on these kids before drugs,alchol or a deranged fan takes there lives.

By DQ

I think the only ones impressed by these shallow people are themselves.

By ammy

i think the exat same thing!!!!! she has the whole world watching her if she does something bad. thanks!

By xxxemocutie9xxx

Ok, so yeah the parents give them this stuff but that just shows how smart they are.And besides, if Miley actually cared about having a good image, then she would say "Hell no, I am not like and I will not dance like that." It is her fault because she could step up and say, no way that's not me.And those "semi-nude" pictures were put on her myspace which just tells us how much she cares.I understand that she is growing up, but she should have realized that she needs to tone it down way before she agreed to do Hannah Montana. That show is aimed towards little kids. She has nose rings, tattoos, racy picture, and 20 year old boyfriends.Little kids can't have any of that stuff. And she needs to step up and say that she isn't doing that. If you lose it all then so what?She's a church girl, she should know that earthly possesions don't matter. She's a total sell-out anyways. When asked about the line in her new song that says "And a Jay-Z song was on." They asked her what Jay-Z song would that be?You know what her answer was?Here I'll even quote it:"I don't know I didn't write the song, I just needed something to go along with my new clothing line and that song fit it and I don't even listen to kind of music."So maybe that's not exact but it's pretty close. So see, she doesn't write her own music, she doesn't even know anything about the music she sings. I understand if you sing the type of music that's not your normal preference, but then you need to say hey I don't listen to Jay-Z so maybe we shouldn't include him in that song. Listen to people who actually sing about stuff that means personal things to them.

By Angel

I agree with one of the girls. that Miley didn't do it all. aut the people who look up to her shouldn't hear about this other side of her. when Miley first started out she was a pretty good girl. but know it's gotten way out of hand.

By LoveYouHotMiley

I'm a huge Miley fan and will still buy her music and go to her shows but her last concert tour wasn't for her main young girl fan base. And that was most of her audience at the concerts, so they did get exposed to the "new" Miley. She wore the shortest shorts legally allowed and danced all sexy like. I was in front row and when she leaned down I thought her boobs were gonna pop right out! I got a real eyeful of most of Miley. And I'm a guy that should like this, but it kinda made me a liitle sad. She is beautiful and talented and doesn't need to flaunt it. If you read the ticketmaster reviews a lot of parents that were there were shocked. Most of the older teens were fine, but I saw a lot of little girls that just weren't getting what happened to their Hannah! And her brother's Metro Station was the opening act and they were pretty crude and like punk rock.

By Theresa

Whether they got a show on Disney or the Sci-Fi Channel, I doubt they care as long as it got them famous. Really, thats all they wanted in the end. Just because they originated from Disney does not mean they ever gave a damn about wholesome values.

By Bubbles

And don't forget, most of these kids are being pushed by their 'parents' so they can live high off the hog.

By Justin

I know that many of these scandals happen to the young adults because they are immature to a certain extent. When you are young sometimes you don't realize the consequences for your actions, the other part of these stars get in trouble because they are rebellious and don't care. Another factor is moral standards are at an all time low, we have seen it in the government, we see it with other celebs that sleep around etc. and now it's not by chance we see it with the young stars.

By jljniel

Walt Disney would be disappointed in the disney kids today. Selena Gomez is the only decent one. I love Wizards of Waverly Place. No wonder it won the best family show award.

By Theresa Hartman

Another classy Disney offspring would be Raven-Symone. She has been a lady through everything, since she was a little girl on the Cosby show. (Perhaps the grand old man of diversity had some sage advice for her!) She represents Disney, America and Black Americans very, very well, and deserves kudos!

By Mike

I seriously did not know that holding on to a pole so you won't fall off the moving cart is pole dancing. And how is getting a DUI like Kirsten and Anneliese a scandal. These people have too much time in their hands. It happens to so many people. It's called normal. Just because they are celebrities it does not mean they have to be perfection. They are regular people.

By mrfreez91262

I agree with you, except that DUI is BREAKING THE LAW!! GETTING ARRESTED is scandalous. Also, just because it happens to a lot of people, doesn't make it normal...

Page 1 of 4