10 Movie Stars That Were Sacked By Disney And Here's Why

Disney has a long history of turning young performers into household names, but staying in the company’s good graces has never been simple. Behind the family-friendly image, there has always been a strict standard for behavior, publicity, and public perception.

That pressure has led to plenty of high-profile fallout over the years, with actors, comedians, and creators losing their Disney ties for very different reasons. Some were caught in scandals, some clashed with the company, and others simply became too controversial for the brand to keep around.

Here are ten stars who were sacked by Disney, and the reasons behind it.

1. Terrence Howard

Terrence Howard played Rhodes/War Machine in the first Iron Man, a close friend of Tony Stark. However, he got replaced by Don Cheadler from the second Iron Man movie and all the other following films.

Howard revealed that he was replaced because of a pay dispute, as he answered a fan that asked him why he wasn't in the sequel of Iron Man.

"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 says.

Jerritt Clark / Getty Images

2. Ryan Gosling

Gosling said in an interview with the Telegraph that he was actually fired by Disney, and this happened way back when he was just 12 years old. He was a Mouseketeer, alongside with Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, but the studio straight up told him he wasn't Disney Material because he was constantly telling the other two about more explicit and mature things.

Laurent Koffel / Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

3. Jake Paul

Jake Paul was in the Disney+ show Bizaardvark in 2016-2018 but was nowhere to be found in the 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 explains.Adam Davy / PA Images via Getty Images

4. Megan Mullally

Megan revealed on The Wayne Brady Show In 2004 that she was actually hired to voice a character Finding Nemo. She said that the job didn't work out because she refused to use the same high-pitched voice she used in Will and Grace for the character.

CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images

It’s the same kind of backlash chaos as Alan Cumming confronting the BAFTAs racial slur controversy.

5. PewDiePie

“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," said Disney's Maker Studios after cancelling a contract with Swedish YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, aka PewDiePie.

PewDiePie / Via giphy.com

6. Roseanne Barr

Roseanne Barr was fired by Disney+ after making a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, the former advisor to Barack Obama.

"It seemed completely insensitive, completely disrespectful. It was very clear. The decision, it was easy to make," Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images

7. James Gunn

James Gunn was fired by Disney in 2018 when a couple of his past offensive social media posts resurfaced online. However, after a number of celebrities expressed their support for Gunn. plus a fan-made petition with over 400,000 signatures, Gunn was rehired as the writer-director of Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

Axelle / FilmMagic / Getty Images

8. Mitchel Musso

Musso, Oliver from Hannah Montana and the voice of Jeremy Johnson on Phineas and Ferb, was forced to leave Pair of Kings because of a DUI arrest.

Michael Bezjian / Getty Images for RiverRock Films

9. Steve Whitmire

Steve Whitmire, the voice behind the "Kermit the Frog" for nearly 30 years, was replaced by Disney with Matt Vogel in 2017. According to Whitmire, the reasons were "unwanted notes during the short-lived Muppets reboot on ABC" and a "union disagreement."

Nbc / NBCU Photo Bank / NBCUniversal via Getty Images

10. Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison, a sci-fi writer known for Star Trek and The Man From U.N.C.L.E, was fired by Disney right on his first day. He flippantly suggested that the company should “do a Disney porn flick.”

Beth Gwinn / Getty Images

Even by Hollywood standards, Disney is famous for ruthlessly suppressing anything that might tarnish its images. But we can't blame them for it because they have a wide young demographic, and parents should be able to let their children watch Disney content without any worries of tainting their minds.

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For more “what just happened?” moments, read about Hollywood’s biggest stars who wanted the earth to swallow them whole.