Jake Paul Reflects On Being Fired From Disney After Online Scandals

Since taking off on the popular social media apps Vine and YouTube, Jake Paul and his brother Logan Paul have become massive online influencers.

After raking in millions of views from their short clips and outrageous stunts, the popularity led both Paul brothers to ink lucrative deals with major networks, including Disney.

However, after their popularity grew due to a number of controversies and public scandals, Disney fired Jake Paul from their original series, “Bizaardvark,” which starred Olivia Rodrigo before she became a bonafide pop star. Now, the 28-year-old boxer from Ohio is reflecting on his journey.

During an interview with PEOPLE, Jake opened up about being given the opportunity to star in a Disney Channel show after years of making content online.

For him, working on such a project with other professionals in the industry was a monumental moment in his career.

“Man, it was just a fun time, to be honest,” he recalled about the show. “I think it was a good kickstart to my career because I was the first-ever influencer on TV.”

Jake appeared in the show’s first two seasons, which aired between 2016 and 2018, before being axed due to his multiple controversies.

While filming the series, Disney announced they were parting ways with Jake, who had been involved in several controversies due to his growing YouTube channel.

“They were like, ‘Okay. We want to expedite this process of weaning you off the show,’” he said. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine. But it’s going to look like you guys fired me.’ And they were like, ‘We can say that we mutually parted ways and blah, blah, blah.’ And that’s the reality of the story.”

His firing came after several claims that Jake and his friends were terrorizing a Los Angeles neighborhood with outrageous antics, including lighting a tree on fire in a swimming pool and mounting dirt bike drag races, began circulating online.

A KTLA crew was sent to his residence to conduct an investigative report.

During the interview (in which Jake admitted his neighbors hated him), the YouTube star climbed atop the news van, attacked a reporter with a T-shirt cannon, and poked fun at his shoes.

Later, Jaked addressed his firing on social media, calling the chance to work on the show a “dream come true.”

Jake’s sometimes problematic YouTube videos weren’t the only thing bringing negative attention to the rising star.

In 2018, the performer came under fire following a video of him rapping the “n-word” several times went viral.

According to TMZ, Jake was freestyling over Rae Sremmurd’s “Throw Sum Mo” when, early in the video, Jake could be heard rapping “little -ss n—as.”

Later, he said it again when he rapped the lyric, “I whip it like my n—a Richie Vetter.”

A source close to Jake at the time explained the actor wasn’t a racist and had “matured a lot” since filming the video.

In October 2023, Jake announced he was returning to professional boxing after spending time away from the ring.

On Instagram, he posted a video of himself hyping up his return before saying he was on a “mission” to become the greatest boxer in the sport’s history.

“8 fights in the boxing game, and I’m already its biggest name,” Paul said. “I’ve proved that I can headline the biggest global events and defy the odds. PPV after PPV after PPV, and I’m just getting started.”

Rapper Drake revealed that he once lost $400,000 after placing a bet on Jake to defeat Tommy Fury during their highly anticipated fight in 2023.

On his Instagram page, the “Big Rings” rapper posted a screenshot of his bet slip, showing that had Jake emerged from the fight victorious, he would’ve secured over a million dollars in winnings.

Of course, Drake is not a novice regarding gambling. In a previous interview, the 38-year-old opened up about the time he gambled with the GOAT, Michael Jordan, and won thousands of dollars by beating him during a friendly game of ping-pong.

“He just kept betting me, like, bands,” said Drake. “10 bands, 20 bands. Just kept betting because he just couldn’t stomach the loss, you know?”