The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’s Kim Rhodes revealed in an interview that one of her co-stars in the Disney Channel show was body shamed. The actress portrayed Carey Martin in the series, mother to Dylan and Cole Sprouse’s characters, Zack and Cody.
Rhodes was enraged after a writer allegedly called out Dylan for his eating habits in front of everyone, thus coming into the child’s defense and putting the production member in his place.
Kim Rhodes Defended Dylan Sprouse After The Suite Life of Zack and Cody Writer Body Shamed The Child Actor
In her podcast interview via Christy Carlson Romano’s Vulnerable, actress Kim Rhodes shared her horrible experience witnessing a child get bullied on the set of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. She narrated:
“Someone of significant power came down to the craft service, which is where they have all the tasty food for those of you who don’t know, and screamed at the number of donuts and said, ‘No more junk food until he looks like him again [pointing at Dylan and Cole].’ Because Dylan and Cole had different body types. And in front of everyone, Dylan was body shamed.”
Rhodes was furious and immediately slammed the writer for body shaming a child. She said that if that was his attitude, he had no business working on a children’s show:
“I f—king lit into [them]. I was like, ‘You do not have the right to say that to a child. You don’t have the right to be writing for children if that is your attitude. Never again do you speak like that. Never.’ This is a child with feelings. They were standing right there when he said that. He gestured at one and then gestured at the other.”
The actress assured that she did not have an outburst in front of the children. She confronted the writer in private so Dylan and Cole would not think it was their fault that things went awry on set:
“They were not a part of my tantrum. That was upstairs and in private. I didn’t want them to feel guilty for causing a problem. I didn’t want them to feel responsible for my emotional reaction. I didn’t want them to feel, like, ‘Oh my god, now people are yelling.’”
Kim Rhodes was very protective of her on-screen children, and she would do everything to make them feel safe even when the cameras were not rolling.
Dylan Sprouse Also Defended Kim Rhodes After Show Writers Made Fat Jokes
Kim Rhodes also appeared in an earlier interview with The Back to the Best podcast where she shared how Dylan Sprouse defended her when the crew made fun of her pregnancy. The actress shared:
“I got pregnant when I was on the show, and of course, the show dealt with it by making fat jokes. One of my favorite memories is Dylan had a line that was a fat joke, and he just kept skipping over it. It was in the middle of a chunk of dialogue. So he kept skipping over this laugh line.”
She noted how they wanted the child to utter the insensitive fat joke, but he responded with the most striking answer. Rhodes continued:
“Finally, we get to in front of the studio audience, and he skips it. The executive producer screams, ‘Cut.’ It’s the director’s job to cut, by the way. He goes, ‘Cut. Dylan, say the line.’ He goes, ‘I would not disrespect any woman that way, let alone this woman. You write something funny, and I’ll say it.’ That’s my little man.”
Dylan and Cole Sprouse are now 31. The Suite Life of Zack and Cody ran for three seasons from 2005 to 2008 on Disney Channel.
