Christy Carlson Romano has caught the attention of Disney millennials after posting gossip about her former Even Stevens co-star Shia LaBeouf, fueling claims of an apparent rift between the two actors. Romano said LaBeouf “doesn’t deserve” to stand on Disney’s iconic Mount Rushmore.
“Shia doesn’t deserve to be on Rushmore. I’m going to write Substack about this so you know why,” Romano wrote in a now-deleted X post, reviewed by Entertainment Weekly.
Variety has reached out to Romano’s manager for additional comment.
Who the former Disney star would put on the network’s list of most iconic actors has been a popular topic on social media since “That’s So Raven” star Raven-Symoné was asked earlier this month who she would put on Disney’s Mount Rushmore. She selected LaBeouf as one of her nominees, along with “Lizzie McGuire” favorite Hilary Duff. “Camp Rock” star Demi Lovato was later asked the same question in another interview. She agreed with Duff and said Raven-Symoné would also go to Mount Rushmore. But as for LaBeouf’s appearance, Lovato said, “Yeah, that’s fine. I can pass.”
Lovato’s online reaction seems to have spurred her to believe that even Ms. Romano and her “Stevens” co-stars “don’t deserve to be on Rushmore.” She posted on X the day before: “This Mount Rushmore thing is really upsetting to me right now.”
The two actors played brothers Len and Louis Stevens in three seasons and 65 episodes of the Disney Channel series, which aired from 2000 to 2003 and became one of the network’s biggest hits. The show’s series finale was the 2003 film “The Even Stevens Movie.”
Romano previously hinted that he had a falling out with LaBeouf in 2021, saying, “I’m flattered that people think I’m still in touch with him, because it means we’ve done a really good job of making it seem like we’re brother and sister in real life, which we really aren’t.” She also said that when LaBeouf won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by a Children’s Series in 2003, she was “shocked” that LaBeouf “thanked everyone at the table but not me.”
LaBeouf has had a history of erratic behavior and legal issues in recent years, including a lawsuit filed against him by FKA Twigs alleging sexual assault, assault, and infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit was settled in July last year. Prior to that, LaBeouf was ordered by a court to attend a rehabilitation facility after being arrested in Georgia in 2017 for public intoxication and disorderly conduct. Most recently, he made headlines for his arrest at Mardi Gras in New Orleans last month.
“My actions… I have to deal with it. Does that mean I have to go to rehab again? I just don’t feel like it, brother,” LaBeouf said in a post-arrest interview with Andrew Callahan on Channel 5. I think I have a little male complex, so I’m going to work it out. ”
