'Wizards of Waverly Place' Alum Dan Benson Says He Found Empowerment in Porn: 'I'm Excited About the Future'

"I don't feel bad about myself. I feel kind of like a badass," the former Disney Channel star said

Dan Benson is not ashamed of his adult entertainment career — in fact, he feels empowered.

The former child star — who is best known for playing Zeke Beakerman on the Selena Gomez-led Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place — gave a "mental health update" via TikTok one year after he started appearing in porn.

"Mental health check-in: I've been doing adult entertainment for about a year now. My first reaction is confusion because I expected a lot more hate," said Benson, 35. "And instead, people have just been like, 'Go you! Empowerment,' which is awesome."

"Mental health-wise, I feel good," he continued. "I don't feel bad about myself. I feel kind of like a badass, a little bit."

Related: 'Wizards of Waverly Place' Cast: Where Are They Now?

Benson noted that there "are plenty of people on a daily basis asking me and demanding I do things that I don't feel comfortable doing." But fortunately for him, he's "kind of been in a position to be, like, 'No, you're gonna get what you're gonna get.'"

"You're gonna get what I'm comfortable with sharing with the world, which now is quite a bit," he added. "So, anyway, I'm feeling good, I'm excited about the future, and I don't really feel bad about my decisions at all."

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Closing out his video, Benson took a moment to thank fans who have supported him throughout this journey.

"If you've checked out my stuff at all, thank you so much. And if you've liked any of my videos or said 'hi' in the comments, thank you so much. You guys are amazing," he added. "I hope to see you out in public and if you do, give me a big hug because so many people have been doing that lately, and it's been really fun for me."

After concluding his run on Wizards of Waverly Place in 2012, Benson had roles on shows like Nuclear Family and Rick and Morty. But he has since retired from acting, with his last role in 2018's Killing Diaz.

Benson has instead been operating an OnlyFans page, charging subscribers $20 per month to access his "X rated Videos/Pictures" (they are also encouraged to send him "sexy photos" via the chat feature, per his page's bio).

Related: 20 Former Child Stars on the Ups & Downs of Growing Up in the Spotlight

Benson has been candid about his journey, revealing earlier this year how he "tripped and fell into doing adult entertainment," which occurred sometime after women he "found incredibly attractive" would send him messages during his Disney days.

"Turns out, messaging those women — who turned out not to be who they said they were — was not the best idea, because I would send nude photos to them, and they would take those nude photos and then post them onto online websites," he explained on TikTok in January. "And quickly, I learned that my nude photos and videos were all over the web. That was a pretty traumatic experience."

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Benson attempted to scrub the explicit content from the internet "for years" since he didn't "want that out there," but he soon learned how "difficult" it was to do so. It initially had a "very big negative impact" on his life, even causing him to "almost" lose his non-acting job later in life. However, he later took control of things.

"Eventually, I decided to stop fighting against it and instead go the other direction and completely lean into it and build out a page,” he shared. "And instead of letting these people sell my privacy, my — you know what I mean — I decided to say, 'All right, screw you, I’m gonna sell it myself.'"

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