Featured Image Credit: TikTok/@danleebenson
Topics: US News, Celebrity, Disney, OnlyFans, Film and TV
Tom Wood
Topics: US News, Celebrity, Disney, OnlyFans, Film and TV
Dan Benson, one of the former stars of The Wizards of Waverly Place, has given fans an update after his first year since quitting the TV world for a career in adult entertainment.
It’s not a classic career trajectory, but Benson has managed to make the switch from Disney actor to OnlyFans star pretty successfully.
The 35-year-old, who played Zeke on the kids' TV show, was mortified when nude pictures were leaked online, but now makes a living out of it.
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To be fair, he’s admitted in other videos that he quit ‘being a struggling actor’ for a while before making the left turn in his career.
He went back to school, getting a degree in graphic design, as well as working in marketing.
That meant that he was ‘actually working a normal job’ when the old photos came back into the public consciousness.
Anyway, that sent him into the adult entertainment world, and now he’s given an update to let everyone know how it’s going.
In a video shared on his TikTok account, he wrote: “Hi, I’m Dan Benson,
“I’m the actor who played the character of Zeke Beakerman on Wizards of Waverley Place. Mental health check-in – I’ve been doing adult entertainment for about a year now.
“My first reaction is…confusion. Because, I expected a lot more hate and instead people have just been like ‘go you!’
“Empowerment, which is awesome. Mental health-wise, I feel good. I don’t feel bad about myself. I feel kinda like a badass a little bit.”
It hasn’t all been plain sailing, though.
The ex-actor continued: “Now, there are plenty of people on a daily basis asking me, demanding I do things that I don’t feel comfortable doing,
“But, I’ve kinda been in a position to be like ‘no, you’re gonna get what you’re gonna get’ [or] ‘you’re gonna get what I’m comfortable sharing with the world, which now is quite a bit.
“So, anyway, I’m feeling good, I’m excited about the future, and I don’t really feel bad about my decisions at all.
“If you checked out my stuff at all, thank you so much, and if you’ve liked any of my videos or said hi in the comments, thank you so much,
“You guys are amazing. I hope to see you out in public, and if you do, give me a big hug, because so many people have been doing that lately.”
Dan has spoken in the past before about how he managed to carve out a niche for himself in a world dominated by female performers where some 77 percent of the millions of subscribers are male.
He told E! News that he’s comfortable with himself, and comfortable with the fact that the majority of his audience is gay men.
He explained: "I try to make content that lots of different kinds of people could enjoy,
"But the reality is, the significant portion of my followers are gay men. I don't know what it is about me, in particular, but I don't question it.
"I'm comfortable with my sexuality. I have a ton of gay friends, I've been immersed in the culture for a long time, so [the attraction] never bothered me, the way it might other straight men in that way. I lean into it."
"I have such a profound respect and admiration for the gay community and I'm working really hard at being an advocate for gay rights, trans rights.”
Last year, Benson put that money where his mouth is, raising $60,000 for the Trevor Project for at-risk LGBTQ+ young people.
He also said that – whilst he’s been enjoying his career – he won’t rule out leaving the industry at some point.
"I'm being cognizant as I'm going through this process to put things out there that I feel comfortable about,” he said.
“I'm fully aware that there will be long-lasting repercussions from the choices I've made right now. It's very exciting and fun.
"But I'm also not afraid to go back and be a normal guy. I also had a great time doing that."