The Investigation Discovery documentary, "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of TV Kids," revealed the abuse that young Nickelodeon stars experienced. Similarly, Disney Channel, the other major producer of children's series in the early 2000s, had numerous cases of actors who faced various physical and mental challenges due to the pressure the industry put on them while they were young. . Demi Lovato, Hilary Duff and Dan Benson are just a few of these young actors who found that fame didn't suit them as they expected. Gradually, they spiraled out of control with difficulties that many of them are still struggling to overcome. Their names often make the headlines, typically for issues like alcoholism, involvement in pornography or struggles with eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia. . Demi Lovato's case stands out as one of the most notable examples. The actress rose to fame with her roles in "Camp Rock" and "Sonny with a Chance." She quickly transitioned from a promising star to someone associated with disorders such as bulimia. The public first learned about her struggle with this eating disorder in 2010. During that year, Lovato was scheduled to join the Jonas Brothers on tour but unexpectedly announced her withdrawal. Instead, she entered a treatment center to address "physical and mental issues." . However, the cause of the disorder was not the television industry but rather the bullying that the actress endured from a young age, as she revealed to ABC News in 2011: . The industry exacerbated her problems by overloading her with work, transforming her from a young actress into an international pop singer. This pressure pushed her to the limit, leading to an incident during a concert where, as a result of stress, Lovato hit one of her dancers, Alex Welch: . Bulimia was the tip of the iceberg. Once she left the rehabilitation clinic, the actress admitted to using alcohol and drugs, including cocaine, in an attempt to cope with her issues. She seemed to have her disorders under control until 2017. That was the year Lovato released the documentary "Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated," where she revealed that she had not overcome her alcoholism or cocaine addiction: . The situation got so bad that, years later, the actress revealed that her drug addiction had caused significant medical problems. In 2018, Lovato overdosed. This caused her to have several strokes and even a heart attack. She candidly shared these details in the documentary series "Dancing With the Devil," released in 2021: . In addition, the actress claimed that she had also been raped when she was 15 years old and, again, while she was in rehab. It is not a topic that she is willing to go into detail about, but the actress claimed that her rapist was one of her co-stars from her Disney Channel era. . However, she does not blame the company for her problems, although she does admit the stress she was subjected to had lasting consequences on her life. In 2020, she told Harper's Bazaar magazine: . One of the first stars of the 21st century on Disney Channel was Hilary Duff. Her role in the series "Lizzie McGuire" catapulted her to fame but also came with a price she had to pay: anorexia. . The actress, who was also the star of "How I Met Your Father," told Fox News Digital how she stopped eating and began to obsess over her weight as a child actress. Her disorder began when she was 17 years old. Her weight dropped to 98 pounds. She managed to overcome the disorder after a few months of rehabilitation: . Another early well-known Disney Channel series was "Boy Meets World." In it, Will Friedle played Rider Strong, a role that initially appeared to be his breakthrough, but ultimately became the primary role he played for decades. Freiedle explained on the podcast "Hey Dude... The 90's Called!" that a panic attack led him to step away from acting: . That wasn't the only issue Friedle had during his time on Disney Channel. The actor explained in the same podcast how, because his parents gave him independence, he started smoking and even selling cigarettes and pornographic magazines when he was only 11 years old. He took advantage of the times when he had to travel three hours from Manhattan to his home in suburban Connecticut: . If we go back before "Lizzie McGuire" and "Boy Meets World," there's one show that stands out above all others: "The Mickey Mouse Club." This show helped stars like Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake rise to fame. . But there is one hidden side that no one had talked about until 2023. That was the year when Keri Russell, who also participated in the program, decided to speak out, in statements collected by Breitbart, about how she felt filming the program: . However, the truly surprising thing moment came right after. She was asked if she saved anything from her childhood, specifically from her time on The Mickey Mouse Club. Her response was the following: "My sanity. My dignity. Not everyone got out alive." . "Wizards of Waverly Place" actor Dan Benson is another of the many cases of Disney's "broken toys." The company left him with a "traumatic experience" that he has been able to convert into his new way of life. Benson explained in a TikTok video how he turned his life around and became a porn star after starting his career with Disney. . As he explained in the video, it all started when he was between 19 and 25 years old. He played Zeke Beakerman in the Disney Channel series starring Selena Gomez, "Wizards of Waverly Place," which aired between 2006 and 2012: . However, Benson did not immediately realize he was being deceived. He did so shortly thereafter and that was the trigger for his "traumatic experience." He found out that nude photos and videos of him were "all over the web" and had been uploaded without his consent. He was also triggered by his unsuccessful attempts to remove all digital traces of those files. . The actor said that these photos had a "very big, negative impact" on his life. In fact, he "almost lost" a job he had gotten after retiring from acting. However, years later, tired of these pictures continuing to ruin his life, he decided to take advantage of it: . Once he made this decision, he knew what he would do. He opened an OnlyFans account with the intention of "supporting the LGBT+ community" and, there, found their new way of life: "I’ve been having a tremendous amount of fun. I've met a lot of great people in the adult entertainment industry, and it’s changed my life for the better," he said.
