Christy Carlson Romano Says Shia LaBeouf Took Shots at 'Lizzie McGuire' on Set of 'Even Stevens'

Christy Carlson Romano says her former Even Stevens co-star Shia LaBeouf used to trash-talk Lizzie McGuire, the Disney Channel show starring Hilary Duff. She made the claim on a recent episode of The Joe Vulpis Podcast, as Variety reported on October 24, 2026.

Romano said LaBeouf was "definitely beefing" with Duff. In everyday terms, that means he was openly feuding with her. The two shows aired on the same network in the early 2000s, and both were built around young casts.

Romano described LaBeouf as "very competitive." She said he wanted Even Stevens to be the number one show on the network. Number one here means the top spot in the viewer counts, the audience numbers networks use to decide which shows stay on the air. Romano said LaBeouf felt his life depended on the show doing well, and she linked that feeling to a rough upbringing.

She was 14 and he was 12 when they worked together. Romano said the two of them were "like oil and water." She also said the actors on rival Nickelodeon shows did not have "beef" with each other. The real contest, she said, was inside Disney Channel, where shows competed to post the best ratings.

Romano has spoken about the rivalry before. In March, Variety reported that she did not think LaBeouf deserved a place on the "Mount Rushmore" of iconic Disney figures, a phrase for the most celebrated names in a company's history. On October 2, USA Today reported that Romano had shared her regret about LaBeouf and Duff.

Romano and Duff later worked together again. They starred in Cadet Kelly, a Disney Channel original movie, a made-for-TV film produced for the channel. Romano is also known for Kim Possible, another Disney series.

Romano has written about her own years as a child actor. Her memoir, Once Upon a Trainwreck: The Fall and Rise of a Child Star, covers that period. Her comments about LaBeouf add a new layer to a story that fans of 2000s kids' television have followed for years, and they show how much the Disney Channel ratings race shaped life on set.