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

Jake Paul reminisces about his Disney days with a big smile on his face!

In an exclusive interview with People Magazine, the social media personality and professional boxer opened up about how starring on the Disney Channel helped him up his career.

The actor first caught the eye as a content creator on the Vine app, which was shut down later. He then switched to YouTube, after which Paul decided to make professional boxing his full-time career. Paul told People that Disney days were fun and helped him kickstart his career.

"Man, it was just a fun time to be honest," recalls Paul when he used to star in Disney Channel’s show Bizaardvark. He left the show in 2017 but mentioned his jolly time alongside Olivia Rodrigo. "I think it was a good kickstart to my career, because I was the first-ever influencer on TV."

Paul further elaborated that it was a great learning experience for him.

"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."

Paul, who is now 28 years old, starred in Disney's Bizaardvark from 2016 to 2017. The name of his character was Dirk Mann, who was an online celebrity. Though he played the character for a short spell, the celebrity enjoyed his stint with Disney.

Paul currently acts in Paul American, which is a new reality series that features his family and his brother Logan Paul. Paul's character was a regular in the first season but was removed in July 2017. The first season was about the internet adventures of two best friends.

After a month, Paul confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that he was fired because of a KTLA news segment that was about complaints from his neighbors regarding his behavior and disturbance from his house.

“They were like, ‘Okay. We want to expedite this process of weaning you off the show". “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.”

Jake's brother, Logan Paul, has also carved out a successful career in WWE. Paul is interested in wrestling but doesn't want to wrestle his brother. When being asked about the possibility of joining WWE, Paul said to Newsweek that his body wasn't ready for the pressure that WWE puts on wrestlers.

"I would be down to be Logan's manager, Paul Heyman-style in WWE, but I don't think my body is cut out for the athleticism and the madness that the WWE takes.I feel like I would break my back. I definitely want to do MMA. Nate Diaz, still to this day, has not accepted the $15 million deal that we have for him. For me in MMA, it's just about finding the right opponent."

Paul's career has also been entrapped in scandals, including sexual harassment cases. In 2021, content creator Justine Paradise accused the actor of sexually harassing her, which Paul denied, according to People.

Paul was accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2023 of breaking investor protection laws by endorsing cryptocurrencies without revealing that he was receiving funding for them. As a result, he was fined $400,000.