Christy Carlson Romano has offered a glimpse into just how seriously her former Disney Channel co-star Shia LaBeouf took the battle for television ratings.
Romano, 42, who played LaBeouf’s onscreen sister in Even Stevens, said the actor, now 40, would frequently “trash-talk” Lizzie McGuire, the Hilary Duff-led Disney series.
During an appearance this week on The Joe Vulpis Podcast, Romano recalled that LaBeouf “was definitely beefing” with Duff, who is now 39.
“Hilary had no clue about that,” Romano said. “I’m sure she was doing her own thing, but he would always be kind of like trash-talking Lizzie McGuire.”
Romano said she never understood the rivalry, recalling that she would respond, “We don’t know anything about them. Like, why are you…” She described LaBeouf as “very competitive.”
“He wanted to be the number one show on the network,” she explained. “He had to be the number one show because I think his life depended on that show doing well. He had a rough upbringing, and I think he needed that show to do well for him.”
Christy Carlson Romano has described Shia LaBeouf’s intense competitiveness over Disney Channel ratings; LaBeouf is pictured in May 2025
Romano said her former Even Stevens co-star regularly criticized Hilary Duff’s Lizzie McGuire; Duff is pictured in April
Our News Outlet has contacted representatives for LaBeouf and Duff for comment but has not received a response.
Even Stevens ran for three seasons between 2000 and 2003, while Lizzie McGuire aired for two seasons from 2001 to 2004.
The franchise also produced The Lizzie McGuire Movie, which was released in 2003.
When asked whether she still speaks with LaBeouf, Romano gave a candid answer on the podcast: “No, we don’t talk. I should be honest with you—I don’t really want to talk to him.”
She added that this was the first time she had expressed that publicly, saying she was comfortable with the distance. “I don’t really need to know him to know that we impacted each other when we were kids,” Romano said.
Romano acknowledged that LaBeouf has faced “struggles” over the years and said she continues to wish him well.
“When good stuff happens to him, I root for him. If bad stuff happens, I pray for him,” she said. “But at the same time…I don’t need to know him.”
Earlier this month, Romano also claimed that Disney paid her only half of LaBeouf’s salary during their time working for the company.
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Speaking on The Joe Vulpis Podcast this week, Romano (right) said LaBeouf “was definitely beefing” with Duff, now 39
“Hilary had no clue about that,” Romano said, recalling how LaBeouf would criticize Lizzie McGuire; Duff is pictured as the title character
Asked whether she remains in contact with LaBeouf, Romano replied, “No, we don’t talk. I should be honest with you—I don’t really want to talk to him” (Source: The Joe Vulpis Podcast/YouTube)
Romano, who was 16 years old when the show premiered, was prominently featured beside LaBeouf in promotional posters for the project.
She took to Instagram to reveal that despite being ‘co-leads’ with the ‘same screen time,’ LaBeouf earned twice more than her.
She affixed a letter her mother Sharon allegedly wrote to her agent in September 2000, claiming Romano made $6,000 an episode while LaBeouf was paid $12,000.
In her Instagram caption, the former child star clarified that she felt LaBeouf ‘earned every dollar’ of his wage, but noted her own family was ‘deeply in debt’ at the time.
‘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 wrote to her 857,000 followers.
‘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,’ she confessed.
Sharon’s letter to her daughter’s agent contained a five-point set of requests, the first of which was pay parity between Romano and LaBeouf.
Legally, 30 percent of Romano’s salary had to be stored in what was known as a Coogan Account where it was untouchable by her or her parents until she turned 18.
The account was named for Silent Era child star Jackie Coogan, who discovered upon reaching adulthood that his mother and stepfather had squandered the fortune he earned working with Charlie Chaplin.
‘With 30 percent going into trust, we can’t make it here financially,’ Sharon insisted in her letter. ‘This show also holds her up from other work that pays more.’
Sharon also complained that Romano’s lines were being ‘lessened’ and that ‘every show’ was told from the ‘point of view’ of LaBeouf’s character Louis.
