Wizards of Waverly Place alum Dan Benson reveals leaked nudes led him to creating content on OnlyFans

Former Disney actor Dan Benson revealed what drove him to making adult entertainment on OnlyFans.

The 36-year-old Wizards of Waverly Place alum — who suspects his porn career prevented him from being in the reboot — said that he wanted to regain control over his nude photos, which had been repeatedly leaked online without any compensation to him, as he explains in the documentary TMZ Presents: Famous & Naked.

Before he launched his OnlyFans account in July 2022, his X-rated pics frequently surfaced on adult websites, and whenever he managed to have them removed from one site, they would simply reappear elsewhere. 

Realizing it was pointless to prevent his leaked nudes from spreading, he joined OnlyFans to manage his content and keep all the earnings.

The admission comes after his former Wizards of Waverly Place costar David Henrie gushed about his onscreen reunion with Selena Gomez during the reboot production.

Former Disney actor Dan Benson revealed what drove him to making adult entertainment on OnlyFans 

The 36-year-old Wizards of Waverly Place alum — who suspects his porn career prevented him from being in the reboot — said that he wanted to regain control over his nude photos, which had been repeatedly leaked online without any compensation to him, as he explains in the documentary TMZ Presents: Famous & Naked 

Benson previously played Zeke Beakerman, the best friend of Justin Russo (Henrie) on the Disney hit - appearing in 31 episodes from 2007 to 2012. 

In January, Benson expressed his sadness over the likelihood that he will not be able to reprise his role on the reboot. 

'I know for a fact that I will definitely not be a part of it,' he told TMZ. 'That's all on me, I totally get it. I made choices.'

He added: 'I put the chance of bringing back the character I played away when I decided to go on this path of being an adult content creator.'

Around the same time, Benson also vented his frustration at the inconvenient timing of the Wizards Of Waverly Place's reboot.

'Are you kidding me? I mean, that's hype! But oh boy, what have I done...' he wrote on Instagram. 

'I waited like 13 years and now, "ok, here we go, let's fire it up. Dan becomes a porn star - let's reboot Wizards again."'

One of Benson's primary concerns was what would happen to his character, seemingly worried that his explicit career change had disgraced Zeke.

He said in jest: 'What do they do with Zeke's character? Just act like he doesn't exist? Do they recast him? Oh my God is there going to be someone else playing him? No, no...'

Benson frequently posts shirtless photos

Before he launched his OnlyFans account in July 2023 , his X-rated pics frequently surfaced on adult websites, and whenever he managed to have them removed from one site, they would simply reappear elsewhere.

Benson played Zeke Beakerman on Wizards Of Waverly Place from 2007 to 2012

However, fortunately for Benson it seems unlikely that Zeke would have been in the plans for the upcoming pilot.

Only Justin and Alex Russo are set to reappear from the original cast, meaning four of the six ever-presents are not appearing - let alone some of their supporting cast. 

Deadline reported that the reboot had been commissioned on January 18, saying the new series is set to pick up 'after a mysterious incident at WizTech, where an adult Justin Russo has left his wizard powers behind, opting for a normal, human life with his wife and two sons.

'But he gets a surprise when a powerful young wizard (Brown) in need of training shows up at his door… and Justin must embrace his past to ensure the future of the Wizard World.'

Two year's ago, Benson - who has worked on shows such as Rick and Morty, Private Practice and Zoey 101 - said that he would start his OnlyFans account 'to fight for and support the LGBTQ communities that deserve so much better'.

He later revealed that he had 'leaned' into the career after photos and videos he sent to women online were disseminated and nearly cost him his job.

While explaining that he finds it 'super exciting that the fans get to' relive a part of their childhood again, the former Disney Channel star admitted he is 'really sad' that he most likely will not be able to reprise his role on the popular teen sitcom

'I know for a fact that I will definitely not be a part of it,' he told TMZ. 'That's all on my, I totally get it. I made choices'

Benson discussed his journey into adult entertainment on his TikTok account last year, and echoed his sentiments in the TMZ documentary, admitted it all began after he sent intimate photos to women with ulterior motives.

'Basically, when I was on the show Wizards Of Waverly Place, I would get messages from people all the time. Some of those being women that I found incredibly attractive,' he told fans.

'Turns out, messaging those women who turned out not to be who they said they were was not the best idea, because I would send nude photos to them, and they would take those nude photos, and then post them onto online websites.'

Benson called learning his private images had become public 'a pretty traumatic experience.' He then began the 'difficult task' of attempting to take the photos down.

'And quickly I learned that my nude photos and videos were all over the web. That was a pretty traumatic experience and for years I went about trying to get rid of them, trying to get them off the Internet, because obviously I did not want them out there, but as you can imagine that was a pretty difficult task.'

The images almost cost him a job he held after retiring from acting.

'Well, as it turns out, I ended up almost losing my job later in life because of that, after I kind of retired from acting, and it had a very big negative impact on my life.'

Ultimately, Benson pivoted from 'fighting against it' to embracing a career in adult entertainment.

'Eventually, I decided to stop fighting against it and instead go the other direction and completely lean into it and build out a page and instead of letting these people sell my privacy, my you know what I mean, I decided to say, "Alright, screw you, I'm going to sell it myself."

Overall, Benson has had an incredibly positive experience since starting his new career in 2022.

'So I started that adventure, I've been having a tremendous amount of fun, I met a lot of great people in the adult entertainment industry, and it's changed my life for the better.'

Benson charges $20 a month for access to his OnlyFans VIP page. 'Actor best known for my role as "Zeke" on Disney Channels Wizards of Waverly Place. Now I’m embracing my wild side.' his bio reads.