"I was the first-ever influencer on TV" - Jake Paul on looking back at his Disney Channel days

Jake Paul, who is known for turning into a professional boxer after his long-lived career as an internet influencer, is looking back at his acting days. After making a name on social media platforms, there was a time when Paul was hired by Disney for its comedy television series Bizaardvark.

For the unversed, the show starred Olivia Rodrigo and Madison Hu as co-leads. It followed the story of two best friends who are known for entertaining everyone with their videos on a website. As they move forward, they team up with other creators to create a high-quality database.

Jake Paul joined the show in 2016 and appeared as an online celebrity named Dirk Mann. He was a regular on the series for its first season. However, he was removed from the TV series during its second season.

Recently, Paul, who is now focusing on his new reality TV show Paul American, opened up about his days on Disney Channel and whether he liked them or not. During a conversation with People Magazine, the professional boxer revealed that it was a "fun time."

"Man, it was just a fun time, to be honest."

He further credited the series for giving a "good kickstart" to his career.

"I think it was a good kickstart to my career, because I was the first-ever influencer on TV. I think that really set a lot of things into motion for me, and I learned a lot about acting and media and all that stuff."

For the unversed, Jake Paul began his career as a content creator on the Vine app and later on YouTube. After finding fame online, he turned into a professional boxer. In 2017, Disney announced that he was leaving the show. He had filmed almost half of the second season.

About a month later, Jake Paul revealed that Disney fired him while talking to The Hollywood Reporter. Paul revealed how a news segment reported complaints from his neighbors about his behavior in his then-home. The complaint was also regarding the disturbance he created for his neighbors.

When the Walt Disney Company told him that they had to let him off the show, he asked them if it would look like they had fired him. In response, they asserted that they would claim it was a mutual discussion.

"They were like, ‘Okay. We want to expedite this process of weaning you off the show,'" Paul told The Hollywood Reporter.

"And I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s fine. But it’s going to look like you guys fired me.’ And they were like, ‘We can say that we mutually parted ways and blah, blah, blah.’ And that’s the reality of the story."

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More details about Jake Paul's new show 'Paul American'

Jake Paul is currently starring along with his brother Logan Paul and his entire family for the new show Paul American. The show's first episode was released on March 27, 2025, and the rest of the episodes will premiere in the coming weeks.

The first episode, which is streaming on Max, details the extravagant lives of the popular Paul brothers. Besides their fiance, their parents will also make appearances on the show.

While only the show's first episode has aired so far, it seemingly did not entertain the audience or critics. It currently has an IMDb rating of 1.8 out of 10.