Hollywood Demons Recap for Child Stars Go Violent

 

This week’s Hollywood Demons is titled Child Stars Go Violent and focuses on the tragic, sad turn that some of their lives have taken behind the scenes.

Dr. Drew Pinsky talks about his career and working on the show Celebrity Rehab, where he dealt with several child actors who turned to addiction and violence as they grew up and were no longer the cute child stars people adored.

He says that there needs to be focus on their lives before they made it big and how things progressed as they rose to fame and fell from grace.

Brian Bonsall, who is best known for playing the youngest son Andy on Family Ties, talks about how he loved performing and that his mom would encourage it, eventually allowing him to enter the acting world. His mom and wife also talk about his love of performing and over the top personality.

Dee Jay Daniels, who was in The Hughleys as Michael, talks about his life and how his father worked hard to get them out of Compton. He would go on to get into acting, doing commercials for Cheerios and having fun with the whole process.

Talent scout Peter Siedman talks about going to schools and looking for talent, having discovered actors such as Lori Loughlin, Reese Witherspoon and Zachery Ty Bryan.

Peter recalls Zachery having something special and how he immediately joined the business.

Marc Warren, who is a TV producer and director, and Joey Paul Jensen, who is a casting director, talk about how they work to make shows successful. Joey says talent can be seen as soon as people walk in the door. She recalls meeting Shia LaBeouf for the first time and how he was filled with determination and talent.

 

There is a lot of talk about family programing in the late eighties and early nineties which people seemed to love.

 

Brian talks about loving Family Ties and how he would eventually join the show. He talks about auditioning at a young age and being excited, especially since he was promised a toy when it was over.

Dee Jay also talks about going on auditions and eventually landing his role on The Hughleys.

 

Marc talks about Zachery joining Home Improvement, while Joey talks about how kids loved the idea of being famous, even though many of them would not get the kind of money or fame they think they desire and how many of them would fall into bad, disturbing lifestyles.

 

Culture writer Scaachi Koul talks about the growth of these shows and how these kids became instant stars that people loved to watch every week.

Brian won Best Young Actor twice, while Dee Jay recalls feeling at home on set.

Rarri Capri, who is Dee Jay’s manager, would look for signs of him in his character.

Dee Jay was also nominated for several awards throughout his career.

Orlando Brown was cast on The Parenthood at six years old. He had something special, but since he was so young, he didn’t quite fit on the show. However, he would go on to star on That’s So Raven. This would allow him to skyrocket to superstardom, along with his costars, who included Raven Symone.

Brian talks about how the fame became overwhelming and people would surround him, screaming at him and scaring him. Fans would get inappropriate and send him weird pictures and fan mail. He would even get fan mail from prison.

During this time, Brian’s parents would divorce. This would send Brian into a deep sadness, which he had to hide while he was on the show.

 

Orlando seemed to enjoy the fame and fans, but this would lead to him befriending people who would be a bad influence. Marc recalls rumors of him smoking weed, but says he did not do anything since it was not his job. He also doesn’t recall ever seeing Orlando’s parents on set, even though Dr. Drew says this was a requirement.

Marc also says that the show took precedence over Orlando’s issues. He claims people talked to him about his behavior, but nothing was really done about it.

 

Zachery began drinking at 14 and would get into night clubs since he was a star. Dr. Drew says him being allowed to get away with this is what caused a lot his problems.

 

Rarri recalls Dee Jay going to school and set and how he would miss out on a lot, while Brian recalls going to different schools, where he would be bullied and get into fights.

 

Brian also remembers bonding with Michael J Fox while on set and how he felt like a real big brother.

 

When Family Ties ended, Brian was only seven and didn’t quite understand what was happening. The family dynamic he felt on set was gone and he had no idea what to do or where to go from there.

Home Improvement ended when Zachery was seventeen, so he spent most of his formative years on the show. This would take a toll on him, as it did on Dee Jay when The Hughleys ended. None of them knew how to handle this sudden change and losing the people they considered family.

Dr. Drew says changes like this would cause stats like them to turn to drugs, drinking and violence, as it did for Brian, Dee Jay, Orlando and Zachery, all of whom had brushes with the law once their shows ended.

Brian would do several projects post-Family Ties and even had a three-picture deal with Disney, including Blank Check. Once he finished that project, he and his family would move to Colorado, therefore, ending his career and losing something he loved. He would do one movie and a where are they now special but would go on to try and have a normal life. This would cause friction between him and his mother.

Dee Jay talks about joining the cast of Sky High. He played a dancing nerdy sidekick, but this was not the kind of role that he was comfortable with…..he wanted to do other roles.  However, by the time he became of age, he no longer wanted to act.

 

Brian would soon turn to drugs and alcohol, claiming his mom knew about it, even though she claims she didn’t see him do anything. The two of them would arguments about it as Brian would use to escape from life. He would become homeless, get DUIs and end up in a violent, toxic relationship that almost cost him everything. He would end up in a domestic violence situation, which would lead to his arrest.

The media would get hold of this story and Brian claims that they would twist and change the narrative. He would go on to go on probation and be forced to stay sober. He’d go to rehab and break up with his girlfriend.

 

Orlando would also spiral after That’s So Raven ended. He would get a DUI shortly after the show ended and would act erratically in public. He would also threaten a woman and make unwanted sexual advance against a woman and be arrested for disturbing the peace and other things.

Orlando would spend through all his money from That’s So Raven and become broke and living at home. His ex-girlfriend would take him in and give him a chance but notice that he lost weight and act erratically.  This is when she realized he had been using drugs and lying about it.

The two of them would continue to fight…..and he would video tape said fights and post them online for all to see. Things would escalate and he would become violent toward her, causing the police to get involved. He would be arrested for drug possession and domestic violence.

He would be arrested on various charges throughout the years and continue with his erratic behavior.

Dr. Drew explains how child stars have such a crazy lifestyle during their formative years, which can impact their development and cause them to act out and develop bad habits.

 

Zachery would end up with multiple DUIs. His friend Travis Wade recalls going to his house to pick him up for a podcast interview and finding it eerily silent.  He finally gets in touch with Zachery, who says that his wife left with the kids.

Another friend named Alexis recalls seeing Zachery crying while watching a movie about child stars and being concerned.

Zachery would be arrested for another domestic violence case, where he would plead guilty to menacing and fourth degree assault. He was sentenced to 3 years of bench probation, required to take part in a batterer intervention program and have no contact with the victim.

He and the victim, Johnnie and have three children together. There would be more domestic incidents, with him pleading guilty once again.

Marc and Joey talk about how the lack of parental guidance has an impact on child stars, while Brian’s mom wishes she could have handled things differently

 

Dee Jay talks about his life since the show ended and how he would go against the grain. He also recalls an incident where he was accused of murder after getting into an altercation at a nightclub.

He and two friends would be charges with street terrorism premeditated and attempted premeditated murder.

Dee Jay breaks down over this and the impact it had on his mom.

The media got wind of this case and DL Hughley would come to court to act as a character witness. This made Dee Jay happy knowing his TV dad still had his back.

Dee Jay was eventually acquitted on all charges, while his friend Marcus was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Brian would use music as an outlet and would meet a woman who told him that someone stole his identity. This guy was violent and into drugs, all while using Brian’s name to get women. Brian would report this, only to be told there was nothing that could be done.

Brian’s wife would get messages from women claiming to have been raped by Brian. They would go on to contact the FBI to report this and finally found the man who took his identity….it was none other than one of his former cell mates named Nathan. This would impact Brian’s life and cause many problems for him, including ending up in the ER.

This ER visit would be a wakeup call for Brian and cause his wife to give him an ultimatum—shape up or ship out. He has been sober ever since and went on to become a husband and father.

 

Orlando would be sentenced to 60 days in jail in 2023 after pleading guilty to criminal damaging.

 

Zachery was arrested for second degree domestic violence in January 2025.