Wizards of Waverly Place star gives one-year update after joining adult entertainment industry

Actor Daniel Benson, who starred as Zeke Beakerman on Disney Channel’s late noughties hit, joined adult entertainment in 2022

Former Wizards of Waverly Place star Daniel Benson has provided an update one year after joining the adult film industry.

Benson, 35, portrayed Zeke Beakerman, the best friend of David Henrie’s Justin Russo on Disney Channel’s hit comedy series starring Selena Gomez, which ran from 2007 to 2012.

In 2022, Benson joined OnlyFans, a website primarily used by sex workers.

On Monday (26 June), in a TikTok video, the now-retired actor shared a “mental health check-in” one year since joining the pornography industry full-time.

“I’ve been doing adult entertainment for about a year now,” Benson began. “My first reaction is confusion because I expected a lot more hate, and instead, people have just been like, ‘Go you!’ empowerment.”

As for his mental health, he said he felt “good. I don’t feel bad about myself. I feel kind of like a bada**, a little bit”.

He went on to reveal that “there are plenty of people on a daily basis asking me and demanding I do things that I don’t feel comfortable doing”.

“But I’ve kind of just been in a position to be like, ‘No. You’re gonna get what you’re gonna get. You’re gonna get what I feel comfortable sharing with the world,’” he continued.

“Which now is quite a bit! I’m feeling good, I’m excited about the future, and I don’t really feel bad about my decisions at all.”

Earlier this year, Benson explained on TikTok how he “tripped and fell into adult entertainment”, saying that when he was on Wizards of Waverly Place, he would get messages from people often, “some of those being women that I found incredibly attractive”.

“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,” he said.

“And quickly, I learned that my nude photos and videos were all over the web. That was a traumatic experience, and for years, I went about trying to get rid of them, get them off the internet because, obviously, I did not want them out there.

Benson added that having his private pictures out in the world without his consent had a “very negative impact on my life”, which included nearly losing professional opportunities.

“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 ... I decided to say, ‘Screw you, I’m going to sell it myself’”.

He described his “adventure” as a “lot of fun”.

Benson saw his acting break in 2007 when he debuted as cool yet nerdy Zeke on Wizards of Waverly Place. He went on to appear in several episodes of the four-season show.

The actor later landed small roles in 2010 movies like Hanna’s Gold and The Rig, with 2018’s comedy thriller Killing Diaz as his last on-screen credit.