These kids shows were unlikely sources of scandals and firings. For this list, we’ll be looking at controversies surrounding several kid-friendly TV programs and the actors who lost their job on those shows as a result.
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00:00 "Explicit, awful, inexcusable, shouldn't happen."
00:04 "Yeah, I think Nickelodeon's got a real problem on its hands, we'll see."
00:07 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:10 for the Top 10 Kid Show Scandals That Got Actors Fired.
00:14 "It's very interesting, I basically got permission to be pregnant
00:18 because it's something you don't do."
00:20 For this list, we'll be looking at controversies surrounding
00:23 several kid-friendly TV programs,
00:25 and the actors who lost their jobs on those shows as a result.
00:29 Do you agree with our list? Sound off in the comments.
00:33 Number 10. PSA/PR Problem. The Good Night Show.
00:38 The Good Night Show was a PBS Kids Sprout program
00:41 designed to motivate young children to get ready for bedtime.
00:45 "Hello, Sproutlets, what a terrific time we had tonight.
00:48 We looked through our Sprout-a-scope, played games, and sang songs.
00:52 Now guess what time it is."
00:53 The cheerful host, Melanie Martinez, read stories and turned nightly chores
00:58 such as brushing your teeth into games or lessons.
01:02 Unfortunately, Martinez's past work in two satirical PSAs came back to haunt her.
01:08 In a video that has since made its way to YouTube,
01:10 her very straightforward advice on how to avoid pregnancy
01:14 shocked viewers who knew her as a children's nighttime TV host.
01:18 "I've got big plans for my future. A good college, a career,
01:23 maybe even my own business someday.
01:25 But one thing I'm not planning on is getting pregnant."
01:28 PBS quickly fired and replaced her. This sparked protests from parents,
01:34 who claimed the toddlers watching were very unlikely to find Martinez's spoof videos,
01:39 and petitioned that she be reinstated. In the end, the network held their ground.
01:44 "It's always good to wish for something nice for you, your friends, or your family."
01:49 Number 9. Jason Biggs Tweets.
01:52 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Even before the animated revival series aired,
01:57 the former American Pie star was in hot water over a series of tweets published in 2012.
02:02 "And then it's just fun to wake up on Tuesday mornings and see like what articles were written
02:06 about like what tweet I wrote that's like the people are quote unquote up in arms about or
02:10 Jason Biggs is under fire."
02:12 The tweets in question were usually leveled at conservative politicians or the Kardashians,
02:18 and were often sexually graphic in nature. While these may have been relatively tame for Twitter,
02:24 much of the trouble had to do with TMNT's parent network, Nickelodeon.
02:28 "Sensei, we know you're trying to protect us,
02:31 but we can't spend our whole lives hiding down here."
02:34 Parents were calling the network by the thousands, demanding Biggs' firing.
02:39 Biggs continued with the controversial tweets, and in 2014, the network couldn't make a case for him
02:45 anymore, and he was let go. If viewers thought his tweets weren't becoming of a kid show star,
02:51 they must not have been familiar with the rest of his body of work.
02:54 "We'll just tell your mother that uh, that uh, we ate it all."
02:58 Number 8. Dana Plato's Pregnancy - Different Strokes
03:06 The young cast of this sitcom had notoriously difficult lives both on and off the show.
03:12 Actress Dana Plato spent six seasons on Different Strokes as the upstanding and
03:17 sophisticated Kimberly Drummond. "Boys, this hurricane that just blew in
03:21 is my daughter Kimberly. This is Arnold, and this is Willis. Kimberly."
03:25 "Hi there." "Hi."
03:27 "Hi, metal mouth." One episode featured an entire plot about
03:31 Kimberly's father thinking she might be pregnant. "Why didn't you come to me when it first happened?"
03:36 "I wasn't there when it happened."
03:38 "You weren't there? Have you kids invented something new I don't know about?"
03:48 While played for laughs on the show, Plato's very real pregnancy would become a headache for the
03:53 family show just a few seasons later. As it was deemed inappropriate for the character to become
03:59 a teen mother, she was written out. She appeared only as a guest star during the last two seasons.
04:05 "What was the reason you left the program?" "Well, the reason that they let me go was
04:11 because I was pregnant with my son Tyler. It was the best thing that's ever happened to me. He's
04:17 now 11." Number 7. Kermit's Conduct. The Muppets
04:21 Few TV characters are as wholesome as Kermit the Frog.
04:25 "Frogs, we just sit around. You sit in the swamps, you sit in the mud. Sit there. That's
04:30 what frogs do. Everybody knows that." "I'm sitting here talking to a dumb frog."
04:37 "Thanks a lot." Speculation about puppeteer and Kermit voice actor, Steve Whitmire's firing in
04:44 2016, had everyone asking, "What could Kermit have done?" Well, Whitmire was reportedly difficult
04:51 to work with on the set of the 2015 The Muppets revival.
04:54 "There are a lot of challenges being the executive producer of a show starring your ex.
04:59 One of the biggest? This is where I park. Every day."
05:04 He would offer notes on the show's scripts because he felt they were unsatisfactory.
05:09 His actual performance as the frog was cited as another reason for his dismissal.
05:14 The show's producers felt he had turned Kermit into a bitter and sad character,
05:18 unbecoming of his status as a kid's show star.
05:21 "That Whitmire made outrageous demands, like, 'You better make me happy because the Muppets
05:26 are Kermit.'" Whitmire would also be replaced for all future appearances of the role,
05:31 which he had performed since creator Jim Henson's death in 1990.
05:36 Number 6. Public Nuisance - Bizaardvark
05:40 After going viral on the short-form video platform Vine, the Disney Channel offered
05:45 Jake Paul a recurring spot on their new series Bizaardvark.
05:49 "Okay, dareheads, I'm gonna slingshot that watermelon into my head-melon. Here we go!"
05:55 His role as a goofy daredevil who took any challenge put in front of him was a good fit
05:59 for his rambunctious persona. But fame and fortune quickly got in the way. After purchasing a home in
06:06 a wealthy neighborhood, Paul earned the ire of all his neighbors. "It's a bad situation. No,
06:10 I feel bad for them, for sure. Uh, there's nothing we can do though. The Jake Paulers
06:15 are the strongest army out there, dab." His constant parties and adolescent antics
06:19 brought loud noise, fire hazards, and unwanted fans to the neighborhood in droves. There were
06:25 even reports that his neighbors were suing him. Paul took his firing in stride, just like his
06:30 neighbors' many complaints. "I look at myself as a role model, but like an imperfect role model.
06:35 I'm gonna be real, I'm gonna make mistakes. I think that's more realistic for kids to have
06:39 a role model like that, versus like someone who just like seems perfect from the outside."
06:42 Number 5. Tommy Kirk's Behind-the-scenes conduct - Various Disney Projects
06:48 Much like today, in the 1950s, Disney always had a stable of young performers they could plug into
06:55 any movie or TV show as needed. Tommy Kirk was one of their biggest stars. "You act a man's part,
07:01 and I'll bring you a man's horse. Want a shake on it?" Although primarily known for his movies,
07:09 his cachet with Disney allowed him to take numerous parts on television as well. "I think
07:14 you're just gonna have to face it, Joe. There's not going to be any mystery today. Or any other."
07:19 However, he was found in a situation with an underaged boy while the actor himself was an
07:26 adult. Kirk was quickly dismissed. The studio let him make one more movie before giving him
07:31 the boot from all future projects. "Now, let's see if it works." "Oh no, I'm not going to let
07:36 you take it. That's Stanley's job, isn't it, Stanley?" Kirk's career never quite recovered.
07:42 Number 4. Underage drinking and a DUI. Pair of Kings and Prank Stars
07:48 This Hannah Montana star's distinctive haircut precedes him. "I'm Hannah Montana. Me, Miley."
07:55 After that classic Disney sitcom-wrapped production, Mitchell Musso was given two of
08:02 his own shows to headline. The first was a sitcom called Pair of Kings, and the second was a hidden
08:08 camera prank show called Prank Stars. "Hey, I'm Mitchell Musso, and I'm in front of my mobile
08:13 command center. But you can't get real fro-yoke here, because all we're serving up is pranks."
08:18 All was going well for the 20-year-old until 2011. The underage Musso was pulled over and
08:24 charged with a DUI. Ever the stickler for squeaky clean images of their young stars,
08:29 Disney had him written out of Pair of Kings and cancelled Prank Stars altogether.
08:34 "I took years off of working, because I needed to go grow. I needed to go live my life and
08:42 experience something in this journey that didn't just involve work and Mitchell Musso a brand."
08:49 Number 3. Wire and Mail Fraud. Fuller House
08:53 When news broke about a college admissions scandal involving Hollywood stars and their children,
08:58 you could almost hear millions of millennials scream "Aunt Becky!" in unison.
09:04 "The scandal ensnaring actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, who along with dozens of other
09:10 wealthy parents, are accused of breaking the law so their kids could get ahead."
09:15 For years, actress Lori Loughlin was known for playing Becky Katsopolis,
09:20 Uncle Jesse's on-screen wife on Full House.
09:23 "Michelle, I'll teach you how to cook."
09:24 "Well, that's sweet, honey. But who's gonna teach you?"
09:32 "Come on, stop teasing me. I'm a good cook."
09:34 In 2019, Loughlin and her husband pled guilty to wire and mail fraud in connection with the
09:40 famous college bribery scandal. Loughlin was set to serve two months in prison, so,
09:46 unsurprisingly, the Hallmark Channel severed ties with her.
09:49 Loughlin also lost her recurring role on Netflix's Full House revival.
09:54 "Where's Danny?"
09:55 "Oh, he left."
09:56 "Was he your ride?"
09:57 "It was my car!"
10:00 Number 2. Predator Caught - Andy Mack
10:03 The set of this acclaimed Disney Channel original was rocked by a scandal involving
10:07 one of its adult actors.
10:09 "What's going on?"
10:10 "She knows!"
10:11 "My brain feels like it's melting!"
10:13 "How does she know?"
10:14 "I told her."
10:15 "You had no right!"
10:17 "You don't get to be upset!"
10:18 Stoney Westmoreland, the actor who played Andy Mack's grandfather Ham,
10:23 was arrested in 2018. He was reportedly en route to meet someone he thought was a minor,
10:29 but who turned out to be law enforcement.
10:31 "Friday, when Miss Westmoreland arrived at the arranged spot, Salt Lake City authorities
10:36 and the FBI said they took him into custody."
10:39 Considering the charges, it was disturbing to know that he was working on a children's show
10:43 with young co-stars. Westmoreland was promptly fired, and his character was edited out of the
10:49 remaining episodes he had filmed before his arrest.
10:52 "A federal grand jury in Utah charged Stoney Westmoreland with one count of coercion and
10:58 enticement. The charges comes with a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence if convicted."
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11:18 Number 1. Tinky Winky Goes Tubby Bye-Bye – The Teletubbies
11:28 The highly popular, if slightly irritating British kids' show featured four actors in costume,
11:34 speaking gibberish and frolicking in a pastoral landscape.
11:37 American televangelist Jerry Falwell took particular umbrage, particularly against
11:51 the purple Teletubby, Tinky Winky. Falwell insisted the character was a subversive gay
11:56 character with nefarious purposes.
11:59 "So why target Teletubbies? It's the number one children's show in America,
12:03 16 million US viewers seen in 50 countries, and 2 billion dollars in merchandise sold."
12:09 Comedian Dave Thompson, the original Tinky Winky actor, was fired not long after,
12:15 leaving many to wonder if it was because of these criticisms.
12:18 Thompson would go on to say he was only told that his, quote,
12:22 "interpretation of the role was not accepted."
12:24 "Eventually I got sacked from the job."
12:26 "Why?"
12:27 "Well, the letter said that my interpretation of the role had not been accepted."
12:31 "Did you understand what that meant?"
12:33 "No, I think it just meant the producer didn't like me very much."
12:36 Seventy episodes into the show's run, he was replaced by actor Simon Shelton.
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