Christy Carlson Romano called out her “Cadet Kelly” co-star, Shawn Ashmore, for allegedly upstaging her after her team deemed her “not famous enough.”
“Shawn and I dated the summer we shot ‘Cadet Kelly’ and for a few months afterwards,” the then-18-year-old actress wrote on Instagram Wednesday.
“I ended up being ghosted, and I heard her ‘crew’ didn’t think I was famous enough to keep dating. Hollywood is cruel to a young girl.”
The actress concluded her post by saying that she wrote her book, “Once Upon a Time in a Trainwreck: The Rise and Fall of a Child Star,” to “reveal everything that’s really going on in this business.” The book will be published on October 6.
A representative for Ashmore did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
In the comment thread, fans sympathized with Romano, with one person writing: “If this makes you feel better, I remember you, not him 🤷🏻♀️.”
Another said: “I’m glad you’re here after 20 years and where’s Shawn? 👀” while a third said: “I’m so sorry 😢. Hollywood can be great or it can be harsh unfortunately.”
Even before his book, the “Even Stevens” actor, now 42, maintained an active and friendly public profile in which he shared many of his experiences in the entertainment industry.
In an October 2023 podcast interview, the “Kim Possible” voice actress revealed that she got breast implants as a teenager due to “major body image issues” after filming 2002’s “Cadet Kelly.”
“Obviously I was coming of age in Hollywood at the time… and my mom and I looked at the footage or some stuff,” he recalled, referring to his mother and former manager, Sharon Romano.
“He said, ‘Christy, if you want breast implants, I want you to know that it’s an option.'”
However, the actress argued that her mother was “from a completely different generation” and added: “I love my mother… She was being a mother on stage at that moment.”
In a video he shared on YouTube in 2021, he shared that he lost “millions” from his high-profile Disney earnings as a child actor.
“My biggest thing about child actors is that you’re not told when it’s going to slow down,” he said. “In fact, I was told the exact opposite, especially by my mother, some of my team, and even my money manager at the time.”
He has now revealed that he is “by no means a millionaire” after spending money on various “important products”.
He also expressed his feelings about his former “Even Stevens” co-star Shia LaBeouf, who rose to big-screen fame with films like “Holes” and “Transformers,” comparing his “salty” attitude to “sibling rivalry.”
“I felt a little left out of the whole situation,” he said in a 2021 YouTube video.
“I was thinking, ‘There she is. Making a big splash in Hollywood and here I am, I chose to go to college and there are consequences,’ but there was definitely an undercurrent of regret… [and] comparison,” he admitted, adding, “Sibling rivalry, if you will.”
Romano promised to further reveal her relationship with LaBeouf in her book. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, the “Honey Boy” actor shared a loving throwback photo with his father, Jeffrey LaBeouf.
“Shia and I spent 3 years of our lives side by side in adjoining trailers, we both experienced painful childhoods,” he wrote under the photo.
“I wish we could be there for each other, but we were each going through our own battles and could barely take care of ourselves,” he added, noting in his memoirs that he “finally shared everything.”
“It might make some people angry, but I don’t care anymore. If my story could help even just one person, it would be worth it.”