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Former Disney Star Dan Benson On Being Recognized For OnlyFans Fame
Wizards of Waverly Place star Dan Bison recounts story of being recognized at Disneyland because of his OnlyFans stardom.
Speaking to Christy Carlson Romano on her podcast Vulnerable, former Disney Channel star Dan Benson opened up about how his life has changed since starting an OnlyFans account in response to his nude photos being leaked in 2018.
Benson, who rose to fame playing Zeke Beakerman on Wizards of Waverly Place, recounted a story of being recognized while waiting in line at Disneyland, “I was waiting in line for a ride, and someone on the ride turns to me and goes, like, ‘Dan Benson, I love you!’ And I go, ‘What the…?’ Because that’s never happened to me before.”
He told the podcast that he’s never been recognized for his role on on the popular Disney show the way he has been since diving into his new X-rated career.
“Even at the height of Disney, when I was on Wizards of Waverly Place, no one knew my actual name,” he said on the podcast. “They just were like, ‘Zeke! The funny, goofy one! I know you!’”
Benson continued, “So, it’s a really weird experience now to be kind of way more famous than I was before just because I made this extreme choice into doing more, like, sex work.”
The former child star also candidly admitted that while he doesn’t mind his nude photos being out there now, he wishes they were better photos.
“Boy, I was bad at taking nudes back then,” Benson confided. “I’m good at it now. But back then? Yeah, I sent out nude pictures that weren’t even good. I see them all like, ‘Oh, boy!’ I’m not even upset they’re out there. I’m upset that those are the ones that are out there.”
We call this #Shibari as fashion. What do you think?
— Dan Benson (@_danbenson) May 9, 2023
(📸@Christograph3r 🪢@DomEllliot ) pic.twitter.com/94ctg4ncCo
Earlier this year, Benson opened up on his TikTok account about how he landed in the adult entertainment industry.
He said that after sending nude photos to women he was communicating with online, they turned around and posted his private images on the internet. The experience was traumatic and after spending years trying to get them removed he decided to “stop fighting against it and instead go the other direction and completely lean into it."
“Instead of letting these people sell my privacy, my – you know what I mean – I decided to say, ‘All right, screw you. I’m gonna sell it myself," he said in the video.
Although Benson’s path to OnlyFans fame started with people taking advantage of him, he says that ultimately his life has only gotten better.
“I’ve been having a tremendous amount of fun and I’ve met a lot of great people in the adult entertainment industry and it’s changed my life for the better.”
@danleebenson I tripped and fell into adult entertainment. #disney #disneychannel #wizardsofwaverlyplace #adultenteratinment #accountant #zeke ♬ original sound - Dan Benson
Dan Benson joined OnlyFans in 2022.
Dan Benson played Zeke Beakerman on Wizards of Waverly Place.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
Ariel Messman-Rucker is an Oakland-born journalist who now calls the Pacific Northwest her home. When she’s not writing about politics and queer pop culture, she can be found reading, hiking, or talking about horror movies with the Zombie Grrlz Horror Podcast Network.
