Disney is rapidly taking over the entire media landscape, and many A-list stars are flocking to be in the latest Marvel or Disney release. You'd think that it would be a fantastic company to work for, but you would be wrong. Working for Disney should be the best job in the world, but most stars tend to end up resenting the Mouse.
Ex-Disney stars have not been shy in voicing their displeasure after working on a particularly volatile set. Whether its company interference, interpersonal drama, or creative differences, many ex-stars seem to hold a negative opinion of their time in the Disney sphere.
These are twenty Disney stars who hated their experience.
20 Demi Lovato
Demi Lovato has certainly not been shy in voicing her disapproval of Disney. She gave a particularly scathing interview to Billboard, where she joked about getting PTSD from her time working with the company. She mainly took issue with the incredibly fast-paced working schedule, saying that they were all tired and overworked. She has also revealed that Disney asked her to fix the gap in her teeth to make her more attractive and profitable.
19 Selena Gomez
Selena Gomez now has a very successful career, and it can mainly be attributed to her time working with Disney, as no one will deny that Disney helped launch her into the mainstream. However, holds a somewhat negative opinion of Disney, saying that they forced her to be someone she wasn't. In an interview with the New York Times, she said she was "held to expectations" and that she was "forced to get very uncomfortable... in order to make the decisions I made."
18 Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf loves to experiment, and as such, he most definitely did not belong at Disney. According to an interview with MTV, Disney was very controlling regarding the trajectory of his career. He states, "I never came out with a music thing, even though [Disney will] push you that way." He also stated that he "didn't just want to be a churn-'em-out guy" and that he never felt as if he belonged at Disney.
17 Miley Cyrus
This may not come as a surprise, but Disney REALLY cares about making money. And this fact had greatly upset Miley Cyrus in the past. Miley told Elle that she "didn't own [her] own name" and that her mom "started understanding how many people take advantage of a child." She also states that she was grossly underpaid for her work on Hannah Montana, simply because she "didn't know any better."
16 Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff was a mega successful child star, but like most child stars, the fame was starting to get to her head. Hilary gave an interview to Pride Source where she stated that the pressures of being famous and working around the clock were starting to negatively affect her mental health and that she needed to "bow out" for the sake of her own sanity. Luckily, the break worked out for her, and she now considers herself "very healthy."
15 Zac Efron
Ah, they grow up so fast. Despite being the breakout star of High School Musical, Zac Efron has since turned his back on the whole Disney machine. It mostly started on Saturday Night Live, when Efron starred in a skit that made fun of hokey Disney movies and portrayed Walt Disney as an anti-Semite. Needless to say, some people were not happy, but Efron certainly walked away a new man.
14 Bella Thorne
Much like Selena Gomez, Bella Thorne was another victim of Disney's artificiality. She told Nylon, "When I got off [the Disney Channel], I stopped listening to people telling me that I needed to be this and that." She also states that Disney dictated her personality, saying, "I literally would talk with a higher voice in interviews because that was the whole innocent Disney appeal."
13 Raven-Symoné
Raven-Symoné came out as gay in 2016, but according to her, it was a major process that could have cost her her career. She apparently hid her sexual orientation from the world, because "it only mattered what could be sold as part of the Raven-Symoné brand." According to her, "[I] had 15 people dictating what I should and should not look like. If I did whatever I want, it's not gonna sell. It doesn't go with the brand."
12 Joe Jonas
And wouldn't you know it, Joe Jonas was also controlled to a painful degree. Joe wrote an introspective piece for Vulture which highlights his time at Disney. According to him, "There were so many things...[they] had to sugarcoat," primarily their lyrics. Joe states that this control stifled his creativity, and he began to feel like nothing but a Disney puppet (which, of course, he was). He eventually "hit a limit and thought, 'Screw all this,'" and we don't blame him.
11 Vanessa Hudgens
Disney stars face a serious risk of being typecast, and that is exactly what happened to Vanessa Hudgens. Vanessa has credited High School Musical with launching her career, but she's also stated that it "closed people's minds up as to which characters I could portray." According to her, it took a lot of time and some serious effort to break the typecast and shed the "Disney star" stigma. Luckily, she did just that.
