The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of the Disney Channel

There are a lot of “controversies” at Disney Channel that I feel differently about as an adult – the Vanessa Hudgens private photo leak, a lot of double standards Raven-Symoné faced. What part of Disney lore did you feel most different about when you delved into it for the book?

We never really got to see behind the scenes of any of those cases. They were obviously making public relations statements at the time. I found that really interesting to see. [2008] Vanity Fair Miley’s photoshoot that maybe inside they were like, “Oh, she’s just a kid. We’ll take this calmly.” But you also have [then president of entertainment at Disney Channel] Rich Ross And [then Disney/ABC Television Group chief] Anne Sweeney hop on a plane to Nashville like this, “Tish And Billy RayThis is not okay.” Part of it is out of control. This is a star who is becoming so famous that she doesn’t need the Disney Channel. They didn’t tell the channel they were taking pictures.

With Vanessa, it’s enlightening to hear how executives look back on that now, because I think that statement at the time was so reprehensible—Vanessa’s Selected Apologies that she had to give. Part of this was that at the time, [nude photo leaks] It’s uncharted territory for the network and for internet celebrities in general. Anne Sweeney would say it’s not a slap on the wrist, it’s a “we don’t want anything like this to happen to you again”—that’s how they see it, or they say they do.

Raven, the way they handled her body type—people have been emphatic about, “Well, it was never in her face.” When you talk about how they edited certain shots to make her look thinner in certain episodes, sometimes they’ll say, “Well, we wanted to protect her. We were keeping an eye out. We didn’t want her to feel bad. We didn’t want viewers to judge her.” It’s interesting to hear the arguments from different sides. I grew up in the 2000s, and it was a terrible time for a young girl of any body type. I think some of the things that happened then wouldn’t happen now, or at least wouldn’t be met with immediate backlash.

Parents of the stars—Hilary Duff’s mother, Shia LaBeouf’s fatherRaven’s father, and of course Billy Ray Cyrus—all of whom have played prominent roles in their children’s careers. In your estimation, what is the best way to be a parent in this world, and what is potentially the most harmful?

Obviously parents have a bigger influence than anyone else, because when you have young children, a parent or guardian has to be on set in sight or sound at all times. Then the differences become multi-level. One is, are they involved in a way that they also want to be actors, directors, or writers, and are they trying to move towards their dreams? But the biggest difference is the financial situation of the families involved.