Why That's So Raven Star Orlando Brown Disappeared From Hollywood

For a certain generation of kids who grew up in the early 2000s, Orlando Brown was an essential part of their upbringing. He played one of the core characters in the series "That's So Raven," which is regarded as one of the best Disney Channel original shows ever. Brown starred as Eddie Thomas alongside Raven-Symoné's Raven and Anneliese van der Pol's Chelsea in all 100 episodes of the series. The series also spawned a spin-off in the form of "Cory in the House." 

When a show runs for that long, the actors leave an impression on viewers. While Raven-Symoné went on to star in a successful sequel series titled "Raven's House," the same can't be said for Brown. Not long after the show went off the air in 2007, Brown ostensibly disappeared from Hollywood. Or, at the very least, he kept a relatively low-profile, save for when he was making headlines for less-than-great reasons.

So, what happened to Brown? Why did he fade away from the limelight? We're going to get to the bottom of what the former child star has been up to in recent years. It is, sad to say, not exactly a happy story.

It's not at all uncommon for actors to dabble in music. From Bruce Willis to Eddie Murphy, it happens all the time. "The Avengers" star Jeremy Renner makes tunes and even wound up on "The Umbrella Academy" soundtrack. It's a regular occurrence. Given that Brown had made music before starring on "That's So Raven," it shouldn't be too surprising that he opted to wander down that same path after the show ended.

Brown released a video for a song called "Peter Pan" in 2009 and has continued to release music here and there over the years. A couple of years ago, he even tried to get in on one of Netflix's most popular shows ever with a song called "Squid Game." Some of his other singles include "Head 2 Da Skai" and "God is in Me."

As far as that last one goes, Brown became pretty religious several years back, even delivering a speech at Rise Church in 2020. It's a little unclear what the actor and musician's relationship is to religion these days; some of his behavior seems to run against that particular grain.

Right around the time "That's So Raven" was ending its record-setting run on Disney Channel, off-screen legal issues began for Orlando Brown. The actor was first arrested in 2007 for marijuana possession. The drugs were found in his vehicle, though Brown denied it was his. "I didn't know what was in the car. That's not what I do. I consider myself a youth activist," he said at the time, via Chron.

Unfortunately, this was far from the last time that Brown found himself on the wrong side of the law. He was arrested in 2011 for allegedly driving under the influence and ended up serving jail time after failing to complete court-ordered alcohol education classes. Brown was sentenced to 180 days in jail in 2013, per TMZ.

More recently, Brown was arrested in 2022 on a domestic violence charge after allegedly threatening one of his relatives with a hammer and a knife. In a report from People at the time, the unnamed relative claimed that Brown "came at him with a hammer and knife in a threatening manner." The report added that this relative "believed Orlando was going to assault him."

Again, this happened after Brown had seemingly found some stability in his life after years of drug abuse. At a Rise Church fundraising event in 2020, the actor candidly revealed some of what he went through on his journey to recovery:

"I went through a lot. I experimented with crystal meth, with weed. I didn't know what I was doing. I was addicted to the internet. All kinds of stuff."

Over the years, the number of questionable things that Orlando Brown has said have piled up so high that it's difficult to get into all of them. But, to summarize briefly before getting into some specifics, he has claimed that the rapper Drake is actually his former co-star Raven-Symoné, alleged that the Illuminati is "my family," and asserted that Nick Cannon gave him oral sex. That's truly just the tip of the iceberg.

Over the years, Brown has also said bizarre things about Hollywood in general. In a 2022 interview with UNWINEWITHTASHAK, he made truly wild claims about people selling their souls to become famous and, in essence, gaining eternal life:

"What you must understand is, when you do sell your soul, you are allowed to live forever. And these people that are called youngins, rookies, new-booties, like I was, had no idea that these people still lived. And they would prey, hunt, kidnap, anything to stay on top. This is their world. They have nothing but time, is what they believe...We're talking about everyone that's supposed to be dead."

That's but one example. Another now infamous one came five years ago when Brown appeared on Dr. Phil's YouTube channel. The most remarkable part of that interview came when Brown claimed that the late pop star Michael Jackson was his father:

"My full name is Orlando Brown Prince Michael Jackson Jr. aka Blanket...My nickname I gave to myself. My father was Michael Jackson, the great Michael Jackson...I used to always wonder why I'm so astronomically blessed and gifted when it comes to being talented. I rap, sing and I do everything immaculately. The eyes. And also just speaking to different Jackson family members that, you know, have confirmed it. So yeah, it's a blessing to know that. I can sit here today and say, that yeah, that Michael Jackson was my father."

This all adds to a general pattern of instability. Whether or not Brown even wants to continue acting at this point is almost irrelevant. It's difficult to imagine producers for big shows or movies wanting to risk hiring someone who appears to be dealing with a lot of personal problems. Even so, Brown does, on occasion, still show up in a project here or there.

Despite all of the off-screen issues and comments, Brown has managed to book gigs. Arguably his biggest project since leaving "That's So Raven" was 2015's much-acclaimed N.W.A. biopic "Straight Outta Compton." It was certainly the biggest movie he's been a part of, but his role was limited to "Block Dude," a glorified extra in the grand scheme of things.

Other than that, he's appeared in smaller movies such as 2012's "Christmas in Compton," 2015's "American Bad Boy," 2016's "Smoke Filled Lungs," and most recently 2022's "Bloody Hands." Brown also appeared as himself in the reality series "Bad Boys Texas" as well as an episode of Gordon Ramsey's "Hell's Kitchen." But it's all been relatively small potatoes and, in all likelihood, the offers aren't going to come pouring in unless something dramatic changes for the better sooner rather than later. That also seems unlikely given some more recent developments.

Recently, noted music producer, rapper, and occasional actor in movies like "Get Him to the Greek" Sean "Diddy" Combs was arrested on sex trafficking and racketeering charges. NPR notes that he has also been served with 18 civil suits, with quite a few celebrities involved either as the accusers or the accused connected to the alleged crimes.

So, how does Orlando Brown tie into all of this? At a time when seemingly everyone with anything to protect is trying to distance themselves from Diddy, Brown has been proudly proclaiming his friendship with the mogul while also defending him in pretty outlandish ways. Brown called Diddy "one of my best friends" in an interview with Cam Capone News:

"People sold their souls to Diddy, and then they're mad now because the hazing process was a little bit rougher than they thought. You can't f*** a king. Why do you think I love Diddy so much? You're not gonna dethrone this man because he know how to get you there by way of hazing you."

As of this writing, the outcome of these legal proceedings remains uncertain but, at the very least, given what's already come to light, this isn't a great look for Brown.