On Thursday, July 07, "High School Musical" star Zac
Efron and his friends spent the evening drinking at Dillon's Irish Pub
in Hollywood. Upon leaving the pub, one of Efron's friends, a
little-known actor named Ryan Rottman, was arrested for driving under
the influence after a breathalyzer test scored a .19, more than twice
the legal limit.
Efron, although at a table that consumed enough
an amount of alcohol sufficient to satiate even a very thirsty Amy
Winehouse, was not charged with anything and returned home without
incident, and the chances of him facing any criminal liability for
allowing his friend to drive seem incredibly remote, requiring a set of
improbable and possible unprovable facts. If Efron had knowingly
allowed Rottman to drive drunk (ordering the drinks for him, giving him
his car keys so that he could drive home while knowing he was clearly
intoxicated), a prosecutor might be able to charge Efron with abetting
the crime, but this assumes a series of facts not in evidence.
This
would be a modified form of ‘dram shop’ liability that allows for
penalties for those who serve alcohol. It is most often imposed on
sellers of alcohol and is primarily used in civil cases by victims of
DUI-related accidents; injured parties can therefore go after
deeper-pocketed defendants (bars, liquor stores, celebrities) for
compensation when the actual drunk driver has no assets. In this case,
since there was no injured party, civil liability would not apply; Efron
need not worry about a court garnishing his “Hairspray” residuals or,
worse, his hairspray budget.
Yet this first brush with the law
should in fact be of no surprise for the young star. Brushes with the
law are a rite of passage for child stars, both former and current, and
Efron's Disney channel beginnings hardly insulate him from that and may
in fact make it far more likely that Efron may find himself facing a
judge. Despite its squeaky-clean and family-friendly image, it seems
that Disney produces more criminals than Death Row Records.
From
alcohol to drugs to even production of child pornography, the crop of
Disney stars to have emerged in the past decade or so has been
responsible for a wave of crime from Burbank to Beverly Hills. Among
the worst offenders is Shia LaBoeuf, once the star of the Disney Channel
show “Even Stevens.” In 2007, LaBoeuf was arrested for criminal
trespassing in a Chicago Walgreens. Charges were later dropped, in all
likelihood because of the impossibility of proving anyone would ever
want to enter a Walgreens. The next year, the “Transformers” star
disobeyed a court order to appear in response to a ticket issued in
Burbank for unlawful smoking. A bench warrant was issued for his
arrest, but charges were dismissed upon the actor paying a $500 fine.
LaBoeuf’s
most serious brush with the law occurred in July of 2008. When his car
was totaled by another vehicle that ran a red light, officers responded
to the scene. Smelling alcohol on his breath, officers ordered the actor
to submit to a breathalyzer test. He refused, and per California law
he was arrested for drunk driving and his license was suspended for one
year.
Although this accident severely injured LaBoeuf’s hand and
his ability to make a fist, his penchant for violent brawling did not
subside. In 2011, the actor was arrested after an altercation at a
Sherman Oaks bar. LaBoeuf was detained for this brawl, but no charges
were filed. In addition, no charges have been filed against either
LaBoeuf or Michael Bay for crimes against humanity for the series of
“Transformers” films, although one suspects that the Hague has not yet
completed its investigation.
Alcohol-related crimes have also
plagued another one of the more successful Disney stars, former “Mickey
Mouse Club” performer turned Cher impersonator Christina Aguilera. Ms.
Aguilera was a passenger when her boyfriend was arrested for driving
under the influence. Aguilera herself was detained for public
intoxication during the arrest, although no charges were later filed and
charges against her boyfriend were dropped when it was found his blood
alcohol content was below the legal limit.
There are two things
notable about Aguilera’s arrest that set her apart from her other Disney
Channel cohorts. The first is that Aguilera's crime involved alcohol,
when most of her former colleagues prefer illegal intoxicants. The
second is that she was arrested at all for them. Like most hardened
criminals, most of the former Disney stars flagrantly admit to their
crimes but are never charged with any crimes. Prosecutors who have taken
on organized crime lords seem reluctant to touch these stars for their
misdeeds, accurately judging that the wrath of the Crips and Bloods is
nothing compared to tweens on a Bieber-esque frenzy.
Britney
Spears, despite legal woes that have forced her into a conservatorship
several years ago, has openly admitted to smoking pot on tapes captured
by husband of 55 hours Jason Alexander. Her former flame, Justin
Timberlake, has also admitted to use of drugs, as recently as an
interview in last month’s Playboy magazine. Fergie of Black Eyed Peas
fame, like Spears, Timberlake and Aguilera once a star of the Mickey
Mouse Club, openly admits to an addiction to crystal meth, while “Hannah
Montana” star Miley Cyrus was caught on film smoking from a bong. In
November of last year, Disney star Demi Lovato entered treatment for
substance abuse and other issues; rumors abounded that she was treated
for cocaine addiction, thus proving that her first name was not the only
thing about Lovato that is an ironic homage to eighties culture.
Even
Efron’s co-star Vanessa Hudgens has not been immune from possible
criminal action. In 2009, topless photos of the young star were posted
online. According to Perez Hilton, lawyers representing Hudgens claimed
that she was underage when the photos were taken, thus any
distribution of them could be considered distribution of child
pornography. Yet this applies equally to Hudgens herself, based on the
number of cases in which teenagers have been arrested for ‘sexting’
pictures of themselves to other teenagers.
There is no doubt
that if Walt Disney were cryogenically unfrozen tomorrow, he would be
shocked by the various crimes committed by stars who made their name in
his productions. It is only a matter of time before one of these Disney
stars commits cold-blooded murder, so if Selena Gomez singlehandedly
takes out all three Jonas brothers in one fell swoop, be warned: it was
bound to happen eventually.
The writeup summarizes the scenario
of Disney stars and their strange encounters from which they easily get
away. All these stars start at an early age and get influenced,
therefore, being victim of child pornography many a times. Yet, Child Pornography Attorney & Child Abuse Lawyer are by their side to swiftly get them out of such situations.
