Christy Carlson Romano says she earned half Shia LaBeouf’s $12,000 per episode
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“Even Stevens,” uneven pay.Christy Carlson Romano revealed she was paid half as much as her Disney Channel sitcom co-star Shia LaBeouf.In a recent Instagram post promoting her memoir, “Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Rise and Fall of a Child Star,” released Oct. 6, the actress revisited the pay disparity between herself and LaBeouf, a story she also shares in the book.Christy Carlson Romano revealed she was paid half as much as her “Even Stevens” co-star Shia LaBeouf. (Romano and LaBeouf are pictured above in character.) ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett CollectionRomano revisited the pay disparity between herself and LaBeouf in an Oct. 9 Instagram post promoting her memoir, “Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star” (seen above). Simon & Schuster“I was a kid and the female lead on ‘Even Stevens.’ I was paid half of what Shia was paid; we were co-leads and had the same screen time,” Romano, 42, wrote on Oct. 9 alongside a throwback photo of herself, LaBeouf and her mom, Sharon.Romano played Ren Stevens, while LaBeouf, now 40, starred as her on-screen brother, Louis Stevens, on the Disney Channel series, which ran for three seasons from 2000 to 2003.The “Kim Possible” star also shared a letter her mom sent to her agent in 2000, revealing that LaBeouf was earning $12,000 per episode while she made $6,000.“I was a kid and the female lead on ‘Even Stevens.’ I was paid half of what Shia was paid; we were co-leads and had the same screen time,” Romano wrote alongside a throwback photo of herself, LaBeouf and her mom, Sharon (pictured above). thechristycarlsonromano/InstagramRomano played Ren Stevens, while LaBeouf starred as her on-screen brother, Louis Stevens, on “Even Stevens,” which aired on the Disney Channel for three seasons from 2000 to 2003. (Romano and LaBeouf are seen above in character.) Disney Channel via Getty Images“Christy wants what Shia is getting,” Sharon wrote in the letter.Among her other requests for renegotiation, Romano’s mom also stressed, “As much as we love the show, it has to be worth her while.”Romano said in her Instagram post that she found the letter while writing her memoir and digging through “thousands of old photos and letters.”Romano also shared a letter her mom sent to her agent in 2000 (pictured above), revealing that LaBeouf was earning $12,000 per episode while she made $6,000. thechristycarlsonromano/InstagramRomano said in her Instagram post that she found the letter (seen above) while writing her memoir and digging through “thousands of old photos and letters.” thechristycarlsonromano/Instagram“My mom wrote it to my agent in 2000, asking for equal pay and admitting we were deep in debt,” she wrote. “By then, my paycheck was keeping us afloat.”“My mom was fighting for me, and she was also fighting for a household that depended on a teenage girl,” she continued. “It took me years to understand I could love her for advocating for me and still wish I had gotten to just be a kid.”The “Cadet Kelly” actress went on to say that LaBeouf “earned every dollar,” but that her memoir is “not about him or any other famous name you might recognize.”“My mom was fighting for me, and she was also fighting for a household that depended on a teenage girl,” Romano wrote in part. (She is pictured above as Ren Stevens in Season 2 of “Even Stevens.”) Brookwell-McNamara Entertainment / Courtesy: Everett CollectionRomano went on to say that LaBeouf “earned every dollar,” but that her memoir is “not about him or any other famous name you might recognize.” (Romano is seen above with her memoir at a bookstore.) thechristycarlsonromano/Instagram“They were part of my story. They were never the story,” she added. “The story is a girl who grew up too fast and a business that decided she was worth half.”“If you grew up taking care of the people who were supposed to take care of you, I wrote this book for you.”In a 2021 YouTube video, Romano admitted she was once “a bit salty” about LaBeouf’s success following “Even Stevens,” saying, “We went from seeing each other every day to not seeing each other for years to him being this huge star.”“If you grew up taking care of the people who were supposed to take care of you, I wrote this book for you,” Romano concluded in her Instagram post. (She is pictured above at the 2022 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.) AFP via Getty ImagesRomano previously admitted she was once “a bit salty” about LaBeouf’s success following “Even Stevens” and more recently appeared to shade her former co-star after he was arrested in New Orleans in February.“For a while, I think the ghost of who Shia was and who he became was really frustrating for me.”Romano also said she felt an “undercurrent of regret” over choosing to attend college while LaBeouf made a “big ol’ splash in Hollywood.”More recently, Romano appeared to shade her former on-screen sibling after LaBeouf was arrested in New Orleans in February.In an Instagram video posted just days after his arrest, Romano wrote, “When they ask you about your old co-star, but you’ve stopped ‘inserting’ yourself.”
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