While Disney has a fair reputation for treating their actors and crew members well, they still know when to assert themselves and let somebody go if need be. Several big-name actors have had their contracts terminated.
Here are 15 celebrities who were fired by Disney and why.
In the first Iron Man film, Terrance Howard played War Machine. However, he was replaced by Don Cheadle after a pay dispute with Marvel.
"This is gonna get me in a lot of trouble. It turns out that the person I helped become Iron Man, when it was time to re-up for the second one, took the money that was gonna go to me and pushed me out," he later said in an episode of Watch What Happens.
After making a blatantly racist comment via Twitter about President Barack Obama's former advisor Valerie Jarrett, Disney cut ties with Roseanne Barr.
"It seemed completely insensitive, completely disrespectful. It was very clear. The decision, it was easy to make," Disney's CEO subsequently revealed to Oprah Winfrey.
Back in 2004, Megan Mullally revealed on The Wayne Brady Show that she was hired to voice an anonymous character in Finding Nemo, but was ultimately let go by Disney for refusing to replicate the same high-pitched voice she used in Will & Grace.
The director of both Peacemaker and The Suicide Squad, James Gunn, was let go by Disney back in 2018, old, offensive tweets of his resurfaced online, garnering a ton of backlash.
Several celebrities defended Gunn and showed their support with a petition that collected over 400,000 signatures. Gunn was later reinstated as the writer-director in the third Guardians of the Galaxy film.
YouTube star and boxer, Jake Paul, starred in the Disney+ show Bizaardvark from 2016 until 2018, when he didn't return for a third season.
"They basically called me and were like, ‘Yo, what’s going on, what’s going on?’ And I just explained the situation, and they were like, ‘OK. We want to expedite this process of weaning you off the show.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine. But it’s going to look like you guys fired me.’ And they were like, ‘We can say that we mutually parted ways and blah, blah, blah.’ And that’s the reality of the story," he explained to The Hollywood Reporter.
Most of us remember Mitchel Musso as Oliver from the iconic Disney series, Hannah Montana. He also voiced Jeremy Johnson on Phineas and Ferb and Pair of Kings. Unfortunately, according to TMZ, he was forced to resign from Pair of Kings after being arrested for a DUI.
Jake T. Austin played Justin’s brother, Max Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place. He later went on to land a role in The Fosters, where he was eventually fired from due to having frequent run-ins with the law. He was arrested and charged with underage drinking as well as a DUI after crashing his car.
Disney fired The Mandalorian actress, Gina Carano, in 2021 after sparking extreme backlash after making comments about The Holocaust online.
While speaking with The Telegraph in 2008, Ryan Gosling revealed that he was fired by Disney when he was just 12-years-old, and still a Mouseketeer alongside Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears, for being a bad influence.
After her series, Shake it Up! ended, Bella Thorne wasn't shy about airing out the difficulties she faced on set, alongside her co-star, Euphoria star, Zendaya. She revealed that she and Zendaya were often forced to pit against each other, making for a bitter environment. She also faced criticism from Disney for wearing a bikini when she was 14-years-old. They chose not to renew her contract after Shake it Up! came to an end.
Stoney Westmoreland was better known for his role in Disney's Andi Mack. He was later let go of the studio after being arrested.
“Given the nature of the charges and our responsibility for the welfare of employed minors, we have released him from his recurring role, and he will not be returning to work on the series which wraps production on its third season next week," a representative stated at the time.
Steve Whitmire played the iconic voice of Kermit the Frog for nearly 30 years. But in 2017, Disney replaced him with Matt Vogel. Whitmire later revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, that Disney fired him over "unwanted notes during the short-lived Muppets reboot on ABC" and a "union disagreement."
Disney terminated its contract with Swedish YouTuber, Felix Kjellberg, (aka PewDiePie) following antisemitic remarks.
“Although Felix has created a following by being provocative and irreverent, he clearly went too far in this case and the resulting videos are inappropriate. Maker Studios has made the decision to end our affiliation with him going forward," a statement explained.
Once upon a time, Adrienne Bailon was a leading member of The Cheetah Girls. Unfortunately, Disney cut ties with the actress after nude photos of her were leaked online.
"The photos that have surfaced of Adrienne Bailon were stolen from her laptop over a week ago at an airport in NY and sent to several media outlets," a source revealed at the time.
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