Well this is uncomfortable. Some scandalous selfies of Dylan Sprouse (the former Suite Life of Zack & Cody star who eloquently called out Joe Jonas last month for Joe’s “bullsh-t” about growing up Disney) have surfaced on the internet. You can google the pictures if you really want to see them, but we’re not going to post them here for several reasons (including sparing Dylan further bulge exposure).
In this midst of this latest scandal from a former Disney Channel star, I am thanking the stars that I did not grow up in generation selfie. Everyone takes selfies these days, right? Except for us “old” folk. In the case of a famous person, I don’t know how they ever believe the pictures will not surface somehow. Leaks happen so often. For the record, Dylan responded to his own crisis with a surprising amount of tact. He owned up his mistake and never claimed the photos were stolen from his iPhone:
Whoops, guess I'm not 14 and fat anymore
— Dylan Sprouse (@dylansprouse) December 16, 2013
I messed up… but I'd be a fool not to own up to it. Got to move past it I suppose
— Dylan Sprouse (@dylansprouse) December 16, 2013
This tweet from Dylan’s twin, Cole (who tweeted and deleted a joke about it being “cold in the bathroom“) does make things super weird though. Poor guy:
.@dylansprouse now they've basically seen me naked which is weird I guess.
— Cole M. Sprouse (@colesprouse) December 16, 2013
Dylan also took to his Tumblr blog to explain his thoughts on the leak:
In regards to my pictures…
I figured I would write my thoughts on it all. After having a night to sleep on it and a day to reflect, I think there has been ample time to gather my thoughts while the encounter is still fresh.
First off, I will state that the reason I’m making light of the situation is because I don’t think what I did was wrong. To be blunt, I was proud of my progress in the gym, thought I looked hot, and wanted to share it. I’m of the mindset that whoever you are, if you are proud of your body and want to show it off, so be it! You do you. There is an odd taboo with the human form (especially in the USA) and I don’t particularly think its a good thing to teach people that you should “hide yourself” as something incredibly sacred. Blah blah blah, that’s a medieval notion.
Secondly, the real problem here was not me sending my pictures to someone, but rather, sending them to the WRONG someone. The real travesty is a misplaced trust, and while I am certainly to blame for it, it is a shame that my private life was somehow forcibly dragged into the public’s perception of me. What is wrong is that, generally I try to stay cool and collected with my prose and a role model for kids (maybe not anymore shamefully) and this seemingly inconsequential act will likely affect the youth’s impression of me. Not only that, but I worry somewhat for my artistic integrity, and my academic integrity. Not exactly ideal, but I’m to blame and I’ll look this incident in the eye like a man. I did it, but I’d be damned if I didn’t own that sh-t like Beyonce would want me to.
Finally though, and I think that this is the most important part, because of this, I gained 200,000 followers on twitter, 40,000 followers on tumblr, and 20,000 followers on instagram…. It seems to me that the majority of people are actually praising this act as some sort of device to receive fame (or infamy). Why? I have no clue, I don’t entirely condone it though. I’ll make it clear my intent was for this not to happen, and how it has affected me so positively is an enigma to me that rings true of the human condition. Maybe people just like to see others mess up? I’m German by blood, so I feel you on that.
tl;dr? I was proud of myself and my progress since I was 14 and husky, I’m not proud of this incident’s potential lasting effects on my academic and artistic integrity. But I’m making the best of it through humor and I’m getting this shirt made today:
I figured that if every interaction I have from here on is a chance of them having seen me like this, I may as well just show them anyways heh heh.
P.S. please stop sending me nudes you will not get any in return despite popular evidence
[From Dylan Sprouse on Tumblr]
What a mess, but this too shall pass. Dylan seems to be handling the photo leak well enough, and I like his little shoutout to Beyonce. That’s very Sasha Fierce of him! In all fairness, I think part of Dylan’s attitude here has to do with pride about his new physique. He is … kind of ripped now, but I can’t think of him in terms of being “hot.” I saw him grow up on television. I’m just saying he’d be more upset if he didn’t like the photos.
Hopefully the next time we see an essay from Dylan Sprouse, it will be about better news. This guy is a goofball, but he seems like a smart cookie who make the mistake of being too trusting with his photos. Just like many other male and female celebs who’ve gone through the same thing.
Photos courtesy of Dylan Sprouse on Instagram
He handled it well. I’m impressed. His brother’s tweet has me rolling.
Agree and agree 🙂
His reply is so articulate that it doesn’t appear to have been produced by some PR damage control team. I’m impressed as well
you sure there is nothing coming up that he needs promo for? he has been in the news lately out of no where..
The last acting gig he had was in 2011 and that was with Disney, he’s completely focused on his academic life right now so no.
I really like his writing style. I don’t know what it is but that essay was a good read.
SOMEONE TELL ME I’M NOT GOING CRAZY
I too love his writing style and they way he has handle the whole situation. He just trusted the wrong person. A great kid with his head screwed on right
Exactly, I really like his response. And his brother’s tweet is pretty funny as well..
Watched them both grow up on the Disney Channel, and I’ve got to say that it looks like these two will buck the Disney curse and actually turn out ok. It may sound weird, but I’m kind of proud of his response. Dylan handled it all with aplomb.
You’re not crazy, he articulated his points well and took with humor while owning up to his part in it.
It’s sad the girl leaked them (I’ve no idea who he is but he clearly can roll with the punches).
You’re not crazy. His writing style is very informal and easy to read. The essay is good.
Love he owns his mistakes too!!!
You’re not! I really liked it too! He’s a well-spoken kid and he can write! I’m impressed on how well he handled the whole situation. Unlike the other Disney stars who have had leaked nude pics. And his shoutout to Beyonce is amazing 😀
Job well done! The kid can communicate and has good style. You’re right.
You’re not going crazy! I’m like the others above, I have really enjoyed reading what he has to say!
I agree! I was just going to ask how old he is, because he strikes me as smarter than any other Disney grad I can think of…
Nope, he’s adorable and so was his response. Never heard of him, but he handled this well.
Yay! Thank you everyone, for affirming my sanity for me! I actually grew up watching Suite Life so i’m somewhat familiar with the twins and to my knowledge, once the Suite Life franchise ended, so did their acting careers (by their own choice). They went to school and i think Dylan is studying video game design or something like that, which isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world to do! So it doesn’t surprise me that he carries himself well and is very articulate.
Damn, he’s such a well-spoken kid, that said though, in his defense, he sent this privately to some girl and she posted it on her tumblr and was like, “remember when I was with Dylan Sprouse?”
He’s really likable right? Really articulate and clever. But yeah…I don’t see this is as being a big deal right? Seems to be blown out of proportion…
That is a really crappy thing to do.
ETA: the girl posting the photos, I mean. What a biche.
I hated that shitty show they were on
I did too, but after reading the last two posts about him, I pretty much love the kid.
He seems to make a pretty decent psychologist.
Cute kid. I never watched their show but I loved them in the movie Big Daddy with Adam Sandler.
I have no idea who this guy is or that he’d created a scandal with his selfie, but here is my selfie shame:
Number 1 Son took a selfie and posted it on his Facebook page. Unfortunately, he had taken it in front of a clothes horse full of my freshly-washed, drying knickers – clearly visible in all their glory. “Hahahaha,” said all his friends, “Sixlet wears (insert name of type of knickers here)”. “No,” he replied. “My mum does.”
It did the rounds. All the parents at school. All my neighbours. All my rellies.
Oh my god. I’m having secondhand embarrassment.
Jeezus!!
Well, better he learned a careful-with-your-selfies lesson at my expense, than his own!
Bloody iPhones. We have called them Weapons of Reputation Destruction ever since.
Great name Sixer!
That’s a great name for them. It’s destroying my reputation but in a different way. I’m constantly compelled to look at my phone and everyone thinks I’m rude & unfriendly now. I kind of am.
Ha! Thank you, Sixlet.
Oh dear gods. Ground his little ass forever!
I am blushing for you right now. Solidarity and whatnot.
Ok, I’m laughing. Sorry! I think it’s actually a cute kind of embarrassing, but that’s probably because I’m assuming said knickers were of the “Ooh, are mums still supposed to be wearing those?” variety, rather than “Oh, yeah, my granny had a pair of those.”
Oh Lord. How fantastic that everyone knows your preferences in undergarments….
{{HUGS}} Sixer.
Well, they weren’t granny pants, and I’ll leave it at that!
Poor little Sixlet though. He had no idea at all it would be shameful. Or that anyone would notice. To him, it was just some drying washing he couldn’t be bothered to move out of the way.
Ok, when I think about it from Sixlet’s POV, I cringe a little. Aw. He’ll get over it, eventually. If that’s one of the more embarrassing moments of his adolescence, he’ll consider himself lucky. Joining in with LadySlippers and giving you both a big virtual hug. It’ll be fine, as long as he doesn’t get a nickname from it.
It was a while ago. He learned a lesson!
I’m sorry, but I have to laugh! It’s both mortifying and hilarious! 🙂
I laughed, that is such a cute (yet mortifying!) story. Poor little Sixlet 🙂 That reminds me of when I invited this group of people over, who I very much wanted to impress. I went to great lengths with the food and cleaning, making everything spotless and presentable. I forgot that I had all this underwear hanging on the back of the bathroom door to dry (which I didn’t see when I was cleaning). I kept getting funny looks from my guests after they’d use the restroom, and only put two and two together when I saw it for myself after they left. Wahhhh.
Hilarious, Aysla. Were they cute underwear, at least?
That’s the worst part. They were my “10 panties for 25 bucks? What a deal!” underwear; so they had a bunch of cartoons, hearts, and stars all over them.
…Which I’m sure was the real reason for all the funny looks. *Tear*
OMG!! I would have STRANGLED my son. And every time someone mentioned it or I thought about it, I would wrap my hands around his throat again…some more. lol
I am not going to google it.. I don’t get the fuss..was he stackers?
I am also thanking the stars that there were no camera phones back in the day. Now it’s my word against theirs.
HAHAHA true, i thank the heavens that these camera phones where not around from 18-23, i did some scandalous s*** lol
Oh Dahling, It’s equally wonderful that our body guards confiscate those pesky phones. What tales they could tell….. (Especially during our island getaway 5 years ago?!???)
😉
I had a friend who wanted to be a photojournalist. He TRIED to document everything. But we didn’t let him.
Me too, me too. I’m also sooooo damn glad there was no Facebook or Twatter or any kind of social media back when I was growing up. Texting was just becoming the new thing to do when I reached my early 20s. Man how times have changed.
I won’t google the pics…all I can see when I look at hime is that sweet little boy in Big Daddy! He seems to have grown into a really cool, young man….
I never watched any of his acting work, but he certainly reads like a very worthy young man. I’m definitely impressed. Hope for the future, and all that jazz…
I have sweater envy.
Oh thank god I’m not the only one. It’s horrid but at the same time so fantastic that I want it in my own closet.
Yeah…that ensemble is EPIC. That hideously awesome sweater and suspenders? I would rock the sweater and pick my hair out into a HUGE afro. Yeah…I like that idea.
I do too, and it’s not even ironic, so ugly it’s cute sweater envy. I just want that sweater, period.
Poor kid. I feel for him. And I agree with him, for the most part. The person who put him on blast is an ass.
I give him credit for owning up to it, being well spoken and level headed about it, and recognizing that he trusted the wrong person. And I don’t think it’s a big deal.
Agreed on all accounts.
My only quibble is that he said the only problem with the pics is he sent them to the wrong person, nut he still maintains that he likes to be a role model. well if you are a role model to underage children I would think the lesson should be tweaked a pit on that part. Because the consequences of sending underage sexy pics are far wider reaching than that as an adult.
But was he under age when he took the pics? The pics look relatively recent and he’s 21 now. He can take as many nude pics as he wants. It’s not a good idea, clearly, but he was certainly old enough to do so. It’s just unfortunate that his assbucket ex-girlfriend decided to release them as an act of revenge.
The only reason he would be a “role model” is because his Disney work is still in frequent re-runs. So I imagine many kiddies don’t realize he’s now a young adult and not the character he played. I think the whole “role model” thing is way overused nowadays. He had a job, did it well, went on to do other things. He doesn’t have to be a role model for anybody.
Agreed. He seems like a really good kid. Shame on that girl for making private pictures public.
lol @ his twin brothers remark.
they both seem pretty smart.
There’s no way he set this up. If people knew anything about him or his brother or visited his tumblr they would know he didn’t.
when they leaked though, both men and women on tumblr went NUTS. there’s some hilarious posts on there
Yes he made a mistake trusting whomever he sent the picture to, but it should be a crime to spread pictures like this with malicious intent.
I like this kid.
He looks pretty rough for being so young.
I mean, it’s not like you can really see EVERYTHING. The girl who leaked them is an attention whore and it’s shameful that she would do that. Maybe I’m crazy but if a celeb sent me nudes I’d be too selfish to share them.
Leak my foot. He wanted to create buzz to get his name in the news, hence the selfie “scandal”.
If that were the case he’d have done this a couple of years ago. Those boys aren’t famewhores. They are two of the most “normal” kids to make it out of the Disney machine.
I don’t slutshame girls so i wont slutshame boys only person that should feel shitty and fingers be pointed to here is the jerk that leaked the pics that were sent to her (or him) in private *
*this doesn’t apply to Vanessa Hudgens a d her leaking like a sieve phones and computers LOL
I don’t quite understand how a naked photo makes someone a slut?
Sending a photo to a person doesn’t mean you sleep around…………….?
Aw, poor guy. At least he looks good though. Plus he’s funny and smart. A bit too pretty boy for my taste but what a doll. Something tells me he’ll be just fine.
“There is an odd taboo with the human form (especially in the USA) and I don’t particularly think its a good thing to teach people that you should “hide yourself” as something incredibly sacred.”
I think he’s a bit off base with this. IMHO, it’s important to teach children that their bodies are sacred and not for public consumption. The are, of course, appropriate places to display your figure and get attention (if that’s what you’re looking for): the beach, pool, clubs etc. However, I also happen to think its important for parents to teach their kids to value their intellect over the appearance.
Personally, I find selfies desperate, insufferable, and self congratulatory. They’re all about getting attention for how you look and people are constantly upping the ante by taking them in places deserving of reflection. As you can tell I hate selfies.
I’m with you on the selfies. I think they are mostly obnoxious.
I know a woman who post 5-10 selfies on FaceBook a day. A DAY! I finally blocked her updates because I was tired of seeing picture after picture of her in my timeline.
Does anyone else think they look like Jedward in those American flag outfits?
I absolutely adore both of them. They are smart, funny, talented and really cute 😉
He’s a smart young man who made a mistake, and is now owning up to it and moving on with his life. He’ll be fine. I really like the way he handled it and I think his brother was just teasing him. However (and I’m not blaming him for this), it’s important to remember that, had it been a(nother) female Disney star the one who accidentally leaked her pictures, she would never hear the end of it.
Exactly. Had this been any female former disney starlet, the comments here and everywhere else would be:
“She’s trash(y).”
“She has no self-respect.”
“She’s a bad role model.”
“I’m so disappointed.”
“Disney messed her up.” (Because nudity and overt sexuality always means being horribly damaged if you’re a female. Ah, sex positivism!)
I’ve been on other sites about this ‘scandal’ and haven’t seen any such comments. It proves that the sexual double standard is alive and well, even with more liberal people.
At first I was thinking that if, Vanessa Hudgens for instance, would have had the same reaction to those photos of hers being leaked the public would have had the same reaction they’ve had towards Dylan. But then I came to my senses. If she had said “I don’t think what I did was wrong” the slut shaming would be endless. It really is a shame that there continues to be this sexual double standard
This is a more mature response to a mini-scandal than most celebrities twice his age could manage, and it’s better-written than what they or their publicists would have come up with as well. Sending around nude selfies isn’t the brightest idea, especially if you have some measure of fame, but he sounds like he’s generally a good kid.
“First off, I will state that the reason I’m making light of the situation is because I don’t think what I did was wrong. To be blunt, I was proud of my progress in the gym, thought I looked hot, and wanted to share it. I’m of the mindset that whoever you are, if you are proud of your body and want to show it off, so be it! You do you. There is an odd taboo with the human form (especially in the USA) and I don’t particularly think its a good thing to teach people that you should “hide yourself” as something incredibly sacred. Blah blah blah, that’s a medieval notion.”
Amen! He said it better than I could have. I think we as a society need to stop shaming ALL people for posing nude, whether it’s a man or a woman. It’s just a very medieval, sex-negative, paternalistic, superficial thing to do. Whether or not someone embraces or rejects modesty has no baring on their value, respectability, self-respect, or worth. This guy has nothing to apologize for, and neither does any other guy or girl who poses nude. Bodily autonomy, people.
It seems like he handled it really well. Still a stupid mistake though. I forgot they even existed. lol.
I knly know him from Big Daddy
And as Ben on Friends
I always thought he was “too cute” and snarky– he was early edition snark
Now snark is to the max full on brat snark
Anyway
This has made me like him! He’s adorable! And the subway pic with rainbow sweater and overalls— dying! Sooo cute 🙂
Beyoncé shout out actually made me legit lol
And I’m an old
Makes me glad I found a man and had a babe
Bc these kinds of cute guys always made me crazy haha
ps I feel very certain he will get GOOD legit work bc of this
Not sure that’s what he’s after, though. He and his brother willingly stopped acting to attend college. But then again, what do I know?
This kid has gained a fan in me. Loved his response to this whole thing. He seems like an awesome guy.
it was just some side shaft. no big deal.
I love these boys, so intelligent and down to earth. And ummm he looked good and wanted to share. No shame in that. Can’t be blamed for the fact that there are assholes out there.
I would take what he says at face value. I haven’t seen even a whiff of attempted PR stunts by either of them. They finished the spinoff Suite Life on Deck, did some yoghurt commercials, and then vanished. Glad to hear he’s focusing on college and learning something useful.
Dylan did get a tad pudgy in his teens (making him look more different from his thin taller brother- they were almost identical as children), so he really has been working at it – I had trouble figuring out which one he was from the clothed pics until I remembered “C for Cody played by Cole, the other one played Zach”.