Hilary Duff has publicly asked Disney to shift the new Lizzie McGuire revival from Disney+ to Hulu. The former teen star is chafing at “family-friendly” guidelines, saying it’s “limiting the realities of a 30 year old’s journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating.”
Disney first announced the reboot last summer, but any behind-the-scenes tension was kept under wraps until January. That’s when the House of Mouse abruptly fired showrunner and original Lizzie McGuire-creator Terri Minsky. As Variety reported, Disney suits were unhappy with footage from the first two episodes, deciding to “move in a different creative direction,” and “put a new lens on the show.”
From Duff’s perspective, that “new lens” wasn’t looking too good. She first vented her frustration in an Instagram story Tuesday night. Via Variety, Duff shared an article about another Disney+ series, Love, Simon, that was getting renamed Love, Victor and moving to Hulu (Disney owns a controlling stake in Hulu). The given reason is that Love, Victor wasn’t “family-friendly” enough for D+. Duff circled those words, “family-friendly”, and added her own note above it: “Sounds familiar.”
Then Friday night, Duff released a statement on Instagram that made her feelings explicit.
“Was incredibly excited to launch Lizzie on D+ and my passion remains! However, I feel a huge responsibility to honor fans’ relationship with LIZZIE who, like me, grew up seeing themselves in her. I’d be doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30 year old’s journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating. It’s important to me that just as her experiences as a preteen / teenager navigating life were authentic, her next chapters are equally as real and relatable. It would be a dream if Disney would let us move the show to Hulu, if they were interested, and I could bring this beloved character to life again.”
So far, Disney hasn’t issued a response. But the conglomerate has definitely been leaning into nostalgia with its new Disney+ streaming service. Just in the last month, they’ve announced reboots of The Mighty Ducks and Honey, I Shrunk The Kids, as well as teasing spin-offs of successful film franchises including Loki, WandaVision, and Falcon & Winter Soldier, and sharing the release date for The Mandalorian season two.
Hilary Duff Doesn’t Want Lizzie McGuire Reboot to Be “Family-Friendly”, Asks to Move to Hulu
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