Former child actor Cole Sprouse confirmed in a recent interview that The Walt Disney Company is indeed sexualizing young actresses. The actor known for his roles in “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” and “Riverdale” added that trauma is a regular part of what child actors have to endure.
“My brother and I used to get quite a bit of ‘Oh, you made it out, you’re unscathed.’ No,” Sprouse said in an interview with the New York Times published on April 4. “The young women on the channel we were on were so heavily sexualized from such an earlier age than my brother and I. There’s absolutely no way that we could compare our experiences.”
“I’m violently defensive against people who mock some of the young women who were on the channel when I was younger, because I don’t feel like adequately comprehend the humanity of that experience and what it takes to recover.”
Sprouse added that “every single person going through trauma has a unique experience. When we talk about child stars going nuts, what we’re not actually talking about is how fame is a trauma.”
Cole and his twin Dylan first starred in “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” which aired on the Disney Channel from 2005 to 2008. The twins reprised their roles in the subsequent spinoff “The Suite Life on Deck” from 2008 to 2011. Cole later joined the cast of the “Riverdale” series, which is based on the Archie comics, as Jughead Jones in 2017.
“To be quite honest, as I have now gone through a second big round of this fame game as an adult – I’ve noticed the same psychological effects that fame yields upon a group of young adults as I did when I was a child,” said Sprouse. “I just think people have an easier time hiding it when they’re older.”
Disney opposing Florida bill that fights sexualization of children
Sprouse’s remarks during the interview came amid the media conglomerate’s fight with the state of Florida over the latter’s Parental Rights in Education Bill. The proposal, wrongly dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay Bill,” sought to prevent sexual topics like homosexuality and transgenderism from being taught to children in kindergarten up to the third grade.
In a March 29 Fox News interview, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis denounced Disney and its efforts to oppose the proposal. He told the network’s Tucker Carlson that the word “gay” does not even appear in the bill’s text, contrary to what mainstream media outlets claim.
“It’s not even used in the bill. It’s a fake narrative, it’s a lie. They have to lie because if they admitted to what they were really for – sexualizing kindergarteners and first graders – they know that would not fly with the public,” said DeSantis.
Video – DeSantis accuses Disney of “sexualizing kindergarteners:
“For a company like Disney to say this bill should have never passed? First of all, they weren’t saying anything when this was going through the . They only started doing this because the woke mob came after them.”
True enough, the company which owns and operates Disney World in Florida was initially silent over the bill. Disney CEO Bob Chapek eventually yielded following pressure from the woke mob. He issued an apology toward the company’s LGBT employees, claiming that he “let them down” as an “ally in the fight for equal rights.”
“You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights, and I let you down. I am sorry. I missed the mark in this case, but an ally you can count on. I will be an outspoken champion for the protections, visibility and opportunity you deserve.”
By Ramon Tomey, Guest writer
