Disney star Alyson Stoner recalls being fired from kid's show after coming out as gay
Former child star Alyson Stoner recalled getting fired from a children's show after coming out as queer.
In a guesting for "I'm Literally Screaming" by Spencerwuah, the Disney Channel alum claimed that they were threatened about their "hireability" if the actress comes out.
The Cheaper By The Dozen star said that they decided to come out because their girlfriend at that time felt it was unfair "to be hidden."
"My girlfriend at the time, we reached a point in our relationship where it felt like it was a disservice to her for her to be hidden," they said. "That didn't feel good for her, it didn’t feel fair. And even though there were other like pressures and considerations for me to be public, I felt like, 'OK, I wanna … I wanna do this.'"
"I spoke to my managers about it, who happened to be Christians, and so I was like, ‘Okay, I know that there's a potential risk here,'" the actress added.
Alyson shared how "loving and supportive" their manager was and guided her in making a decision. She eventually came out of the closet and got fired for doing so.
"I did end up getting fired from a children’s show because they felt that I was unsafe, now that they knew I was queer, to be around kids," Alyson said.
Alyson added that there was "definitely discrimination" there, but it felt like they made the right choice.
“The, like, beauty far outweighs the hate comments and death threats,” they said. “It was intimating and also liberating."
The Camp Rock star, whose pronouns are they/them, reflected that the alleged discrimination came after she opened up about their sexuality in a Teen Vogue essay in 2018. In the article, Alyson talked about their experience falling in love with a woman and how their career was impacted by coming out.
Alyson is known for their appearances in several Disney Channel shows and movies, including Drake & Josh, That's So Raven, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Camp Rock, Phineas and Ferb, and more.