Teenagers have a lot going on in their lives, what with their changing hormones and the stresses of things like dating and school. It's natural with this age group for some petty drama to arise that hurts friendships or relationships. And that's been no different for the professional actors on the Disney Channel. Sure, they had jobs and responsibilities, but they were still teens and that led to some drama over the years — including these legendary feuds.
Some of the spats were later resolved in adulthood, with things like two actresses realizing that fighting over a boy just wasn't worth it. Others involved once-tight friendships that faded as the actors got older and moved on to other projects. Whatever the case, we would definitely watch a Disney Channel movie about any one of these fights.
Aaron Carter/Hilary Duff/Lindsay Lohan
As is to be expected for the stage in life that Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff were in at the time, their feud was over a boy. Aaron Carter was dating Hilary when he tried to also get with Lindsay. Ultimately he lost them both, but it must have made things really awkward for the two women as they worked on a lot of similar projects for Disney.
Aaron Carter & Hilary Duff — Part 2
Aaron had a hard time letting go of his feelings for Hilary, and he continued to hit on her even when they were adults. "He keeps doing that," Hilary said in 2014 about Aaron's continued crush. "I don't know how I feel. I mean, that was so long ago, and obviously I'm married, and I have a baby." She added that they just really didn't know each other anymore.
Ashley Tisdale & Lucas Grabeel
The High School Musical stars are closer now, but they both admit they didn't get along when initially filming the movie. "We were not close. We were not good friends, let's just be honest," Ashley Tisdale said. "It's been 10 years … We can totally talk about this now. We hated each other. Like, I'm not kidding."
For Lucas Grabeel, part of the issue was Ashley's intensity. "I remember auditioning with Ashley and hating her because she wanted to rehearse a lot," he said. "I was like, 'Look, I don't want to socialize much.'"
Now the two are friends, though.
Zac Efron & Vanessa Hudgens
Speaking of High School Musical, stars Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron have since fallen out. The two dated while working on the films, but once they split up, they went their separate ways. Vanessa told Cosmopolitan in 2020 that she hadn't "seen him or spoken to him in years." She even added that she wanted to sell the iconic "T" necklace her character gets in the movie from Zac's character. "It's literally sitting in a little bag rusting!" she said. Painful.
The Cheetah Girls
There's been beef between all the members of the Cheetah Girls over the years, but Kiely Williams is mostly clinging onto a feud with Adrienne Bailon. "Why do I have to talk to Adrienne, tell me why?" Kiely asked Raven-Symoné during an Instagram Live in 2020. "No, she didn't come to my dad's funeral or call me when he died." Yikes.
Demi Lovato & Selena Gomez
Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez used to be quite close, but Demi shared recently that their friendship has faded since their shared Disney days. "When you grow up with somebody, you're always going to have love for them. But I'm not friends with her," Demi told Harper's Bazaar in 2020. It happens! Kids grow up and don't necessarily stay in touch.
Demi Lovato & Miley Cyrus
Demi told Harper's Bazaar that Miley Cyrus is now one of the only Disney Channel stars that she does still keep in touch with — but when they were younger, the love wasn't always there. "Miley and I are strong-headed. When we fight it's brutal, and we're like, 'We're never going to be friends again!'" Demi told Seventeen in 2012.
Selena Gomez & Miley Cyrus
Miley and Selena both dated Nick Jonas when all of them were younger, which could naturally have led to a bit of jealousy and resentment. It certainly was rumored to have sparked a feud. But the two have since clarified that they're over any drama now that they're adults. "We both liked the same guy when we were 16," Selena later said. And that's that.
Miley Cyrus & Emily Osment
One last Miley feud for the books is her one with fellow Hannah Montana star Emily Osment. Although the two played the best of friends on the show, Miley later said that wasn't the case off-screen. "Emily and I tried to be friends, we really did, but it always ended in a fight," Miley wrote in her autobiography, Miles To Go.
Dylan Sprouse & Joe Jonas
A few years ago, Joe Jonas opened up about working on Disney projects and how much pressure he felt he and his brothers were under. But Dylan Sprouse took offense to the idea that the Jonas brothers didn't have enough creative control while working for The Mouse.
"If they wanted to, they could have told Disney 'no.' [My brother] Cole and I did this hundreds of times, and we ended up all right," Dylan said on Tumblr. "The only reason they didn't is because, like many of the people on that channel, I think they fell for the allure of fame."
Ouch!
Dove Cameron & Ryan McCartan
Dove Cameron and Ryan McCartan were on the Disney Channel show Liv and Maddie together in the mid-2010s. They began dating and grew so close that they actually got engaged. But the engagement was short-lived, and Ryan blew up Dove's spot on Twitter when the relationship ended. "Dove has decided this relationship isn't what she wants," he tweeted. "Please be sensitive, as this is painful."
Oof, the public aspect of this breakup was kind of hard to watch.
Zendaya & Bella Thorne
Bella Thorne and Zendaya eventually became friends, but they had a rocky start. "Zendaya and I were put in a very unfortunate position where we were kind of forced to compete against each other [during Shake It Up], which made the whole first season of the show just very awkward for us," Bella told J-14. "We wanted to love each other, but yet we were constantly being put against each other. It was, 'Who's better at this?' and 'Who's better at that?'"
Debby Ryan & Skai Jackson
The two actresses worked together on Jessie, but off-screen there were a lot of rumors that Debby Ryan and Skai Jackson didn't get along. In 2014, Skai even unfollowed Debby on Twitter. A curious fan then asked Skai if the rumors were true that she had been rude to her costar. "No, I'm not rude to her. It's the other way around," Skai tweeted back.
Uriah Shelton & Rowan Blanchard
Girl Meets World star Rowan Blanchard is a noted feminist, but her costar Uriah Shelton has very different views than her. It got to the point where Rowan reportedly couldn't even be his friend. "Rowan doesn't necessarily like me. We've have a lot of [differences]," Uriah later said of her.
Olivia Rodrigo/Joshua Bassett/Sabrina Carpenter
The most recent Disney Channel drama comes courtesy of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series stars Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett. The two were reportedly dating, but shortly after splitting, Josh allegedly got with fellow Disney star Sabrina Carpenter instead. Olivia went on to write a whole album seemingly about the betrayal.
