Christy Carlson Romano says Disney Channel paid her half of what co-star Shia LaBeouf earned on “Even Stevens,” though she describes the gap without blaming him. Romano put the figures at $6,000 an episode for herself and $12,000 for LaBeouf. She raised the issue in an Instagram post promoting her memoir, “Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star.” “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,” she wrote.
The post shows a throwback photo of the two actors from the show’s early years. Romano said she found the image while digging through thousands of old photos and letters for the book. Her paycheck, she added, was keeping her family afloat by then.
She took care to separate the pay structure from her former co-star. “Shia earned every dollar,” she said, insisting the book is not about him or any other famous name. She described the people from that period as part of her story and never the story itself.
The disclosure lands as the 42-year-old actress frames the memoir around childhood fame. She says she was pushed into show business as a child and learned early that achievement was the price of love. The pay detail serves as one concrete example of that pressure.
“Even Stevens” ran for three seasons on Disney Channel, from 2000 to 2003, with Romano and LaBeouf playing siblings Ren and Louis Stevens. A 2003 television movie served as the series finale. The show followed their clashing personalities in suburban Sacramento, with Tom Virtue, Donna Pescow, A.J. Trauth and Nick Spano rounding out the cast. Entertainment Weekly said it contacted Disney and LaBeouf for comment on the salary claim. Neither had responded in the coverage reviewed.
Pay gaps between co-leads have drawn growing scrutiny across Hollywood, and child performers have little leverage in negotiations. Romano’s account adds a specific number to a pattern that former young actors have described in recent years. Nothing in her post suggests she plans to pursue the matter, and she has framed it as a piece of her history rather than a grievance against LaBeouf.
