The Disney Channel immortalizes child stars on TV screens forever, capturing the most iconic moments from the most prolific celebrities, all to live on in TV history. Tens of millions of people constantly reliving the most hilarious, entertaining, sometimes annoying, and even heartwarming scenes again and again on Disney Plus.
Today’s subject made such an unignorable mark on the channel, but he would tragically make history as the first Disney Channel star to pass away while being featured on the network. When Cameron Boyce debuted in his first music video at 9 years old, it was already clear he was going to be a huge star. Widely considered to be one of the final talents Disney Channel ever discovered.
Suddenly, a young Cameron Boyce had everything he could have ever dreamed of. Sadly, what was looking to be a prolific career in acting would be cut far too short on July 6th, 2019 when Cameron’s life ended at only 20 years old. This was definitely a Disney Channel first. They had never had to publicly deal with the death on any of their projects.
And they would now have to explain the grief process to kids ages 4 to 13, all while promoting a movie in which he was the star. The world would be shocked and would grieve along with the Jesse cast, Adam Sandler, and the Descendants. But one cast member would take her grieving to Snapchat to post AI photos of herself with his babies.
So, join me as I take a look into the prolific career of Cameron Boyce and just how the cast of Jesse traumatically lost the heart and soul of their show far too soon. ; There was a rumor that I was dead ; THERE. I REMEMBER THAT. I SENT THE ARTICLE to our group chat and I was like, Cam died, I guess.
Like, oh wow, good to know from Twitter. ; Cameron, are you alive? What? ; Yeah. Oh, yeah. Didn’t I was like, are you Did you die? What happened? Would you die without telling us like that? Now, I felt it only appropriate to start this story with a disclaimer. This is without a doubt one of the heaviest videos I’ve ever made.
I’ve gone back and forth on if I’m even going to post this video or not, but I think it’s an important story. And to be honest, the other day I was talking with my good friend about the TV show Jesse, and she had no idea anyone from the show had passed on. So, here we are. I’m going to handle this story with sensitivity, obviously.
But just be warned. To start the story, we have to journey back to the year 1999 in the entertainment capital of the world, Los Angeles, California. His Caribbean father, Victor, and his Jewish mother, Libby, raising Cameron alongside his younger sister, Maya. All so they could nurture his talent and never shy away from the spotlight.
Notably, Cameron’s paternal grandmother, Joe Anne Boyce, was one of the trailblazing Clinton 12. The first black students to integrate a southern US high school in 1956. ; It was against the law for them to go to this high school until it was integrated. They don’t know what they’re going into, and then they walk down the hill and there are just people lining the streets, throwing things, saying things, trying to break their spirit.
; I almost cried to go back home because there were so many people and they looked so mean. and they they looked like they just wanted to grab us and throw us out. They didn’t want us at all. I could just see their hate in their heart. ; Libby Boyce described her son as extremely wise and the kindest, sweetest human you could possibly meet and that he was a dancer from the minute he was born.
His father echoed that sentiment, saying they knew they had a little performer on their hands since he was in preschool. See, Cameron was a preschool dance prodigy, becoming proficient in hip-hop, jazz, tap, modern, though break dancing was always his favorite. As a pre-teen, he even joined a break dance crew called XMob with four of his closest friends.
This drive for dance would propel a 9-year-old Cameron Boyce head first into the entertainment world, landing his first role in 2008 in a rock music video for Panic at the Disco, playing a mini version of their guitarist, Ryan Ross. That summer, Cameron booked his first reoccurring role in TV soap opera General Hospital. By the fall of 2008, Cameron made his feature film debut in the horror movie Mirrors, in which he portrayed Michael, Mikey Carson, a young boy terrorized by supernatural mirror entities. He even had a small role in
the Shia Labuff thriller Eco Eye that same year. Throughout all of these roles, Cameron made it even more crystal clear that he was put on this earth to perform. No matter how big or small the role was, Cameron was a complete scene stealer. His wide brown eyes and distinctive freckles made him instantly recognizable.
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I got it going with Charlie. All this work in TV and film eventually led Cameron to be cast alongside Adam Sandler, David Spade, Chris Rock, and Kevin James in the hit ensemble comedy film Grown-Ups. Audiences couldn’t keep their eyes off Cameron’s character of Keith Feeder, the mischievous son of Adam Sandler’s character.
Behind the scenes, Hollywood began buzzing about the little boy and grown-ups, and they wanted to know who he was. Cameron wasn’t just sitting back and letting this happen. He was actively showcasing his dancing abilities on the online web series Legion of Extraordinary Dancers. Around this time, Cameron would also be credited in Justin Bieber’s hit Never Say Never Director’s Cut.
There’s this really experimental scene uploaded to YouTube where he’s battling dance robots. This and the League of Extraordinary Dancers were both directed by John Mchu. And if that name sounds familiar, it’s because he directed the most recent Wicked films. Cameron even made a guest appearance on an episode of Dancing with the Stars tributed to the Royal Wedding.
Notably, this was the first project Cameron starred in under the Disney Corporation umbrella. And once they sunk their claws into Cameron and saw how much talent was truly pouring out of him, they knew he was the ultra rare type of triple threat they look for in their biggest child stars.
They immediately tested Cameron out in two of their biggest shows at the time. First was a small one episode cameo in Bridget Medler’s show, Good Luck Charlie, and the second was a later fall appearance as a background hip-hop dancer on the first season of Shake It Up. At the time, Disney Channel was truly at a crossroads. The third and final phase of the Disney Channel golden era was ending faster than it began.
Hannah Montana, Sunny with a Chance, and Sweet Life on Deck aired their final episodes at the beginning of 2011, bringing three shows that had defined the network to a bitter end. Disney now had several of their biggest stars looking to leave children’s TV and transition into more adult roles. But this didn’t slow down their children’s TV division.
They’d replace Hannah Montana with Austin and Ally and Shake It Up. Sunny with a Chance would be replaced with the much more watered down So Random. But what about The Sweet Life? The Sprouse twins had just pitched their idea for a Sweet Life spin-off to take place in Miami. All after The Sweet Life on Deck, and Disney Channel laughed them out of their office.
However, only 3 years prior, Disney had poured nearly their entire talent research and marketing powers into a very costly nationwide search for their next big star. This is where they discovered one of the final Disney Channel icons, Debbie Ryan. Because they had produced countless movies, music, and TV to promote Debbie as their newest star, they couldn’t just throw her away now that the Sweet Life franchise was over.
Thus, they created one of their final successful star vehicles for Debbie Ryan in the form of the allnew TV show Jesse. This was an entirely new show with an entirely new premise centered around a young nanny in New York raising four spoiled kids whose parents are in the entertainment industry.
But who would play the young privileged kids? Disney had discovered Sky Jackson through the traditional child acting pipeline to play the part of Zuri. They found Karan Bra and Payton Lless, both from the blockbuster film franchise Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and already loved their chemistry together. Disney Channel knew they’d be perfect to play Ravi and Emma.
But what about the character of Luke? Luke was initially written as a Korean boy named Hiro, but during auditions for the part, Disney remembered they already had a young Cameron in their back pocket from his time on Shake It Up as a dancer. Cameron’s audition for the part of Hyro was leaps and bounds ahead of any other actors they saw during the process.
; That’s it. This relationship is over. [laughter] ; Vicki could have this. ; Yeah. And ; they immediately went to Jesse’s showriters to rewrite the part for Cameron Boyce, creating the part of Luke specifically for him. Now, I do believe this to be one of the big reasons Disney gave him so many scenes and lines.
He proved he could handle it from that very first audition. Now that Debbie Ryan was a veteran actress, they wanted the most well-rounded child actors to dazzle every scene alongside her. It’s so funny looking back because Disney so clearly had actors like Ross Lynch and Rashan Fegan who are written to be the dancing singing type, but it came to Cameron so naturally.
I feel like Cameron was the only male star from this generation of Disney Channel to truly make an impressionable mark at all. Anyway, Jesse would premiere to 4.6 6 million total viewers, securing its spot as the number one telecast in its time slot, drawing all the way up to 7.3 million viewers for some of the most popular episodes.
To be honest, it was the perfect storm. Jesse was without a doubt the favorite show on the Disney Channel during its entire run from 2011 to 2015. Many believing it to be the final good show to premiere on the channel, period. Since Cameron was a main character, he was given the chance to seal pretty much every scene he was in.
And that’s exactly what he did. And this was no small feat. They had veteran actors doing their big one on Jesse. Constantly having guest stars from other Disney shows, the government, and even Cameron’s movie dad, Adam Sandler. Jesse was the final piece of Disney Channel from the past. It wasn’t watered down into nothing like Dog with a Blog.
It wasn’t super repetitive like Shake It Up or Girl Meets World. Its true only competitor on the entertainment front was Good Luck Charlie, a show that was primarily meant for the family audience. Jesse would cross over with nearly every Disney Channel show that was popular at the time. Since Disney wanted to solidify their new shows with their existing audience, they do Jesse with Live and Maddie, Good Luck Charlie, and even Austin and Ally. It was foolproof.
All Disney Channel needed to do was put their new stars on screen with the kids from Jesse. And suddenly, everyone would go watch their respective shows as well. It was like a mass- prodduced version of That’s So the Sweet Life of Hannah Montana. Thus, when Jesse came to an end in 2015, it was clear the show was too massive to close entirely.
This is where Disney Channel created the spin-off Bumped, where Payton List, Sky Jackson, and Karan Bra’s characters would move off to a summer camp far away from Jesse. Now, I only ever watched one episode of the show cuz it was definitely made for younger kids. I feel like it really highlighted how much real acting and performance Debbie Ryan and Cameron Boyce brought to that show.
Like throw them in a room with Kevin Chamberlain and they were some of the best actors on the Disney Channel. The show Bunked wasn’t the same without them. The three times Cameron guest starred, it made the biggest splash and showed exactly why Jesse was the superior show. But just because Cameron left the Jesse cast behind on Bunked didn’t mean he left the channel.
See, first of all, Karan Bra and Cameron moved in with each other around this time because they were such close friends. So the cast was actually going nowhere. They’d often commented to media outlets saying they were just as close as real siblings, if not closer. On top of this, Cameron had also assumed the voice role of Jake and the Neverland Pirates, voicing the titular character of Jake from 2012 to 2014.
At the time of Jesse’s end in 2015, the Disney Channel was officially out of their golden era. They’d attempt to keep it alive with the remnants of the golden age actors who made up their iconic shows as long as possible. And I truly mean that. I mean, that TV show I was just talking about, Bunked, was airing legitimately up until 2024.
And because Mr. Mosby appeared in the finale of Jesse, many consider it a continuation of The Sweet Life, making the Sweet Life, Jesse, and Bunk the longest running franchise according to some. And I mean, that is just wild to me. That would mean the story line of the Sweet Life technically went on for a continuous 20 years, obviously having no reference in bunked, but it’s like a soap opera.
That being said, when Disney has a formula, they tend to stick to it until it doesn’t work anymore. As Jesse ended, Disney Channel veteran Kenny Ortega, the creator of every musical episode of Disney Channel and High School Musical, would start work on Disney’s latest musical movie series, Descendants. Descendants would focus on the origin story of the young offspring from Disney’s most terrifying super villains.
The story takes place in Orodon, a peaceful kingdom ruled by King Beast and Queen Belle. All the Disney’s heroes children live in Orodon while the Disney’s villains are banished to a slum-like island called Isisle of the Lost where there’s no magic and lots of poverty. The movie centers around the prince son of Beast and Bell deciding to give four underprivileged villain kids an opportunity to attend Orodon Prep School.
When casting the movie, Kenny Ortega immediately had Cameron Boyce in mind for the part of Carlos Deville. Kenny had learned his lesson with previous Disney projects. He knew if he wanted the Descendants trilogy to make a big splash like High School Musical, he would need to find the best triple threats Disney had to offer. Since nearly every episode of Jesse was dominated by Cameron’s character Luke and his subsequent dance moves, Kenny was already very aware of Cameron’s work.
But he would still need to formally audition for the part. However, when he performed in front of those producers, it quickly became clear that if they were going to go with Cameron, they would need to rewrite the character to best suit his strengths. Kenny has gone on the record to say that Carlos was originally meant to be a one-dimensional character.
But after Cameron read for the role, they realized he could bring so much more to the movie than previously thought, giving Carlos Deville a very similar spirit to that of Cameron’s. One that was loving and overall fought for acceptance. Cameron would debut alongside Boo Boo Stewart, Sophia Carson, and Dove Cameron to 6.
6 million viewers and descendants, officially making Cameron a worldwide movie sensation. Up until this point, Cameron had shared the Jesse spotlight as a well-received sitcom actor, but Descendants was a worldwide Disney Channel push. He instantly grew a global fan base overnight. Kenny Ortega crediting him as the heart and soul of the franchise.
Cameron would immediately be cast in the Disney XD show Gamer’s Guide to Pretty much everything. This would last an impressive two seasons and would come to an end right at the time Descendants 2 began production in 2017. Descendants 2 was one of Cameron’s biggest moments of his career. The sequel to the phenomenon drew in over double the amount of viewers as the first Descendants, blowing Cameron up into a true household name.
At 21 million viewers viewing live and on DVR, Descendants was a certified Disney Channel hit, and Cameron was at the center of it. This would without a doubt be the biggest entertainment event of Cameron’s career. Descendants dolls, posters, games, and various merchandise would populate toy stores internationally.
And Descendants would be marked in the Disney Channel history book as the final movie series with this sort of impact on the world. 2017 would be the final year Cameron guest starred on Bunked and the entire Jesse cast would leave the show of Bunked together in 2018 when Disney completely refreshed the cast with new actors, leaving only Payton List to guest star as a reoccurring character in 2021.
Anyway, back in 2018, all of the Jesse cast was attempting to move on from the Disney Channel, but Cameron was the only one who kept one foot in the door. At the time, Sky Jackson was beefing with Aelia Banks and starring in Lil Nause X’s music video for Panini. Kuran Bra was stepping behind the camera to continue his career in production, and Payton List was moving on to Cobra Kai and other major acting roles.
Cameron would venture into more adult roles as well, starting with an ABC pilot he was cast in called Steps as a main character named Becker. The Disney Corporation was already attempting to transition Cameron to their more adult and family line of programming, but the show was never picked up beyond the pilot.
Cameron would find one of his first adult-leaning roles in the indie drama Runt, where he played a dark, realistic teen pulled towards violence and tragedy. Cameron served as both the lead actor and executive producer for this movie. truly showing just how multiaceted he was. I mean, knowing how to dance in every style, acting circles around his Disney co-stars, and snatching up the biggest roles just wasn’t enough for him.
He had to produce, too. Like, he was genuinely doing everything. It was safe to say Cameron was a creative genius. One of his more shocking roles came in the form of the HBO series Mrs. Fletcher. Cameron is cast as a charismatic college friend, dipping his toe in the other side of the pond, truly showing just how accepting Cameron was as a person.
This also proved just how relaxed the Disney Channel had gotten about their brand image. Filming for Descendants 3 began in April of 2018, less than one year after the second movie had wrapped filming. After 4 months of filming, Cameron would finish this magnum opus of his career. It was already pretty bittersweet filming the third Descendants movie.
It was the final film in the trilogy and the cast had gotten so close with new characters joining the cast like China and Mlan. This first generation of Disney Channel starlets truly bonded over descendants and they couldn’t believe it was ending. ; Oh no, you guys. ; I love you. ; I love you guys. ; However, none of them were prepared for what was about to happen.
Like I said, 2018 was a very productive year for Cameron. He worked on multiple films and even found purpose in raising thousands of dollars for the charity The Thirst, a group dedicated to ending World’s Thirst and getting clean drinking water to remote locations across the globe. Cameron was becoming a truly well-rounded young man, finding causes that were close to his heart and bringing attention to them through his amazing gift of acting and dancing.
; It’s close to me. You know, I was I was one of those kids who grew up in LA and, you know, every day on my way to school, drove by the tent city, right? Like that’s the whole thing in the news right now is like there tents everywhere and ; it’s only getting worse, right? And so we have to combat it and continue to fight.
Sometimes a family misses a paycheck, someone gets fired and a whole family’s now in a car and a kid isn’t going to school and you know that ; takes a toll on everyone. The place ; I’m sure it puts things into perspective for you as well. ; Oh, for sure. For sure. Growing up on screen, too, you kind of um ; you know, you can see things in a way that’s um a little a skew.
Um, but you know, you get back to the root of of of things and you you realize that certain people are struggling and you know, we’re all human, you know. ; And you’re going to be on screen soon with Adam Sandler. ; I will be. Yeah. Well, you know, that’s that’s hopefully that’ll be that’ll be a good time. ; As 2018 came to a close and 2019 kicked off, Cameron’s career was on the up and up.
He had three filmed movies that were yet to be released, and he was filming a TV show called Paradise City set to air in 2021. all while continuing his charitable efforts. He would be cast by Adam Sandler in his new Netflix movie Hubie Halloween. And Cameron was reportedly stoked to get to work alongside a veteran actor like Adam who had been so instrumental in his career.
And this time it was a huge ensemble cast of not just Adam Sandler, but Kevin James, Kenan Thompson, and even Cameron’s closest friends like China and Mlan from Descendants and Payton and Karan from Jesse. It was his dream cast. Cameron would tragically and unknowingly end his career exactly how it started, showcasing his dance moves in a Joseé music video he helped choreograph.
And Cameron wasn’t even in it for the money. It’s noted that Cameron believed in the project so much artistically that he donated every penny that he was paid directly back into the production. The music video dawned almost sweet music was such a beautiful showcase of Cameron’s dance ability and release to much fanfare in April of 2019.
With the Adam Sandler movie scheduled to film at the end of 2019 and the third Descendants movie scheduled to premiere in August of that year, Cameron’s career was looking up more than it ever had. He had finally achieved his dreams, creating a lasting legacy for himself before he could even legally take his first sip of alcohol. On July 6th of 2019, only three weeks before Descendants 3 was set to premiere on the Disney Channel red carpet, the news broke that Cameron Boyce had tragically passed away in his sleep at an astonishing
20 years old. Earlier that night, he’d been at home with Karan Bra, his Jesse co-star, and their mutual friend Sophie when he suffered a seizure in his sleep and couldn’t be revived. The next day, a family spokesperson for the Voices confirmed the news no one wanted to hear. Cameron had passed due to a seizure, which was a result of an ongoing condition of which he was still being treated.
This is when the world found out Cameron had been silently battling epilepsy since his first seizure at 16 years old. He had had a few other episodes throughout the years, but his symptoms were generally under control and medicated. In fact, he hadn’t suffered a seizure in over a year before this one. Not his friends, family, doctors, co-stars, no one expected him to suddenly pass away from a seizure.
Cameron’s parents later revealed that he passed due to sue death, a rare complication in which a seizure proves fatal. Just hours after these photos of a smiling Cameron voice were taken by his father, the 20-year-old was found unresponsive at his Los Angeles home. The night he passed away, we were out to dinner with them just hours before.
We were texting that night. We were texting about the Lakers. We were texting back and forth up until 12:30. And um somewhere between the last text he sent me in the morning, he was gone. It’s not cliche to say. You never know. ; You never know. ; You never know. It’s it’s not cliche to say. ; And obviously if I ever thought that he could die from a seizure, I would have never let him out of my sight, which would have been awful for him.
And so we thought cuz he hadn’t had one for 13 months before the last one. He was amazing. He was always um extremely wise, um extremely thoughtful, incredibly athletic, a dancer from the minute he was born, and just the kindest, sweetest human you could possibly meet, ever. He used to say to me, “Share your wisdom, mom.
Share your wisdom with me.” Which ; who says that? ; Who says that as a kid? and I would. ; Fans around the world mourned Cameron’s unexpected passing, dedicating tributes in his honor and remembering his contributions to their childhoods. Cameron truly gave up his childhood to work all so we would have something to be entertained by.
And he wasn’t just about the money and neither were his parents. His story is just so different from every other story I tell on this channel. And I think that’s why I haven’t made this video until now. Cameron was about the art of the entertainment industry and it shined through him through every project he did.
The Disney Channel would take time to mourn, but they still had business to tend to. Cameron’s final movie he filmed, Descendants 3, was about to premiere, and the main character was being grieved by the franchise’s entire audience. Out of respect for Cameron’s family and in his honor, Disney Channel would ceremoniously cancel the red carpet premiere for Descendants 3 and donate money to The Thirst, a charity organization Cameron constantly was raising money for.
Disney Channel would release their one and only statement about a Disney Channel stars passing and it would read as follows. Quote, “From a young age, Cameron Boyce dreamed of sharing his extraordinary artistic talents with the world. As a young man, he was fueled by a strong desire to make a difference in people’s lives through his humanitarian work.
He was an incredibly talented performer, a remarkably caring and thoughtful person, and above all else, he was a loving and dedicated son, brother, grandson, and friend. We offer our deepest condolences to his family, castmates, and colleagues and join his many millions of fans in grieving his untimely passing.
He will be dearly missed. The CEO of Disney echoing the sentiment, saying he was an old soul who was filled with heart, talent, and life and was far too young to die. Cameron Boyce was only 20 years old. On August 2nd, 2019, the Final Descendants movie would debut to a traumatized audience of over 8 million viewers.
It was so bittersweet knowing that this was one of Cameron’s final films ever, but also watching him parlay the role of Carlos, doing the thing he loved to do most in this world, dance and perform. The movie would be dedicated in loving memory to Cameron Boyce. ; Hey, I’m Cameron Boyce. ; The camera Thank you guys all for your incredible work.
There is no treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Or so you say. ; I made her laugh. Disney Channel would release a very touching tribute on their YouTube channel titled quote for Cameron and the video ended with grief advice encouraging kids to get emotional support during this time.
It was a Disney Channel first. They’d never had a star pass away while being so heavily promoted on the channel. Over the course of the next year, as project after project began releasing, some with Cameron in them, many that he was never able to film, tributes would pour out across the entertainment industry. Adam Sandler being the first and most touching.
Adam had been one of the first major actors who believed in Cameron and even currently had him cast in his Netflix movie at the time of his passing. His first statement on Instagram read, quote, “Too young, too sweet, too funny. Just the nicest, most talented, and most decent kid around. Loved that kid. Cared so much about his family.
Cared so much about the world. Thank you, Cameron, for all that you gave to us. So much more was on the way. All our hearts are broken.” Thinking of your amazing family and sending our deepest condolences. In the days leading up to his passing, Cameron and Adam would constantly speak to each other on the phone.
Needless to say, they were very close. So, when Adam Sandler’s highly anticipated movie, Happy Gilmore 2, debuted, Adam included a small TV screen in the corner of the shot on the desk playing a scene of Cameron from Jesse. This entire situation laid so heavily on Adam Sandler that he even dedicated Netflix’s Hubie Halloween to Cameron midway through the credits, a photo of Cameron illuminating the screen with the words written, quote, “In loving memory of Cameron Boyce, gone way too soon and one of the kindest,
coolest, funniest, and most talented kids we knew. you live on forever in our hearts and are truly missed every day.” End quote. ; He was wow. He was supposed to come to do the movie maybe like 2 days after he was getting on a plane to come shoot our movie. Uh and um that was devastating news for his family and for the all of us.
And and um he was just a nice nice kid. I mean, when he was in Grown-Ups, that kid, he was just carefree, happy, funny. All the other kids loved him. All the all the comedians would walk away going, “Man, that kid said a funny line earlier.” Like, he was just sharp. And my kids loved him.
He was always great to my family. Oh man, Cameron came to my daughter’s Bach Mitzvah months before he passed away. And every one of my daughter’s friends was coming up to him and he took the time and talked to everybody and signed autographs and took pictures with them all. And he was just he was a great kid, man. And every everybody misses him. Nice kid.
; Nearly all of Cameron’s collaborators publicly sang his praises from the rooftops, highlighting just how much of a shining person he was to this world. From Jose to the Descendants cast, everyone was mourning their friend. The Disney Channel had lost one of its greatest talents. Stars from Zenaia to Kenny Ortega to Dove Cameron to China and Mlan would all pen heartbreaking letters and make heartbreaking videos expressing how they wish they could have had more time with him and just how much of an impact he made
on everyone he came into contact with. ; My system is still in shock and my brain is still foggy and full of holes. But I’m going to try to write to Victor and Libby and Maya. You are all I can think about. My heart aches for you. I’m broken for you. I have close to nothing left, which tells me some small percentage about how you must be feeling. [snorts] I’m so sorry.
And I will never have enough words for the pain I feel and the love and squeeze in my heart that I hold for you. I don’t really believe any of this is actually happening. I think I think that my mind is just kind of shut down at this point. [snorts] So, I’m just kind of feeling a little numb to Mr. Vic, Mrs. Libby, and Maya.
You guys lost something that the rest of us didn’t lose. You guys lost blood, a son, brother, and I lost my best friend, my closest friend, my longest friend. I’ll never again have a friend like Cameron. ; Cameron was one of my favorite people alive in the world. Over the last six years, since he was only 14, [snorts] Cameron talked me down from countless wedges, talked me through eating disorders, helped me out of a dark relationship and through endless breakdowns.
He would whisper the dance moves to me on live television when I didn’t know what I was doing, or hold my hand quietly to communicate wordlessly when we both knew we were thinking the same thing. I can’t count on my hands the number of times we ruined something because we couldn’t stop making each other laugh. He was undoubtedly the most talented person [snorts] most of us will ever know.
But what was special about Cameron was who he was in the small moments [snorts] when maybe no one was looking. The moments in between the big ones when he didn’t have to be good or kind. Cameron was [snorts] always good and kind. He was selfless and generous. He was magnanimous. beloved by anyone who would ever been lucky enough to experience [snorts] his light and indescribable energy.
Cameron was the ultimate example of a human being. This is actually his hat, guys. He left it in my room. We were doing Descendants 2. We were hanging out with a couple of our friends. We went to Cameron’s room and we kind of raided his closet. I saw him during Descendants 3 because I packed it and I was gonna give it back to him and I told him that he left it in there the last movie.
He was like, “You remembered that?” I was like, “Yeah, I brought it so that I could give it back to you.” He was like, “All right then.” [music and snorts] And I never gave it back and I’m so happy I didn’t. He was like, “God left it for me.” and he knew that it was going to mean so much more than it’s just being Cam’s hat that I that I just forgot to give back to him.
You know what I’m saying? Cameron, [snorts] I love you. Goodbye, my dear dear friend and brother. You leave behind a colossal wake, a profound chasm that can never be filled. But you also leave millions and millions of deeply impacted, hopefilled, and lovefilled human beings who are who they are because of you and how you [snorts] spent your brief 20 years on this earth.
We can all only hope to be half of the human that you were. I will spend the rest of my life, missing and loving you, and all the better for knowing you. ; Obviously, the traditional red carpet was cancelled in favor of a donation, but Dove and China would still have to do a traditional press tour. working with Cameron, you know, it’s it’s like working with um your family or like a really close friend.
It’s like it’s it’s the most bizarre experience for it to be something so um like public because it’s not like working with somebody who you work with for a week and then telling your experience. It’s like how do you speak about your experience with one of your like favorite people, right? It’s one of one of your people you feel closest to.
you know, obviously in the opening when you see him when you see him do good to be bad. I mean, I I don’t know anybody else who can move like that. Even the our dancers, like everybody’s talented in the films, but like Cameron um Cameron’s really next level. Um his parents and his sister are really the ones that we all ; No, it’s okay.
But the ones that we’re all thinking about most ; China and Mlan even making it clear that she hadn’t seen the movie and she may never watch it. We usually have like a little screening or something, but I didn’t [snorts] do that. I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to make it through it tonight. But one thing I’m excited about is that the kids are still really excited and they feel like they’re honoring him by watching it. He’s my best friend.
He was the most fun person to be around. He was so pure and innocent. It was very private. So when I found out that he passed, I was like, “What?” I had no idea about his medical condition. I I think it was very close in his family and they knew about it and they were dealing with it within the family, but I didn’t know, guys.
So, it hit me out of nowhere. He was just I mean, I’d known him for so long. I’d never kept a relationship with somebody over, you know, 10 years like that. And to see him go when he was younger than me, I don’t know. It’s been really It’s been really difficult. But I miss him a lot and I love him and that’s never going to change.
; Sadly, this was largely the end for China an MLAN’s time in the entertainment industry as she would largely revert back to her Christian roots following Cameron’s passing. ABC News would air a segment directly addressing the release as well as Cameron’s passing where Dove, Boooo, and Sophia would all detail their relationships to Cameron with Kenny Ortega.
and like he was the person he would always ask for like if you needed to talk to somebody he was always there and he was that person for everybody all just have really been there for each other the cast or just everybody who knew Cameron has come even closer and it’s been a very special thing ; if you could bottle up happiness that was Cam and Cameron even when he was around is the hardest person to put into words you know sorry [snorts] ; when he walked into the room the light changed and the energy shifted.
; This wasn’t Kenny’s only tribute to Cameron. He would make a touching tribute of his own at the Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony all about Cameron and the Cameron Boyce Foundation. ; Cameron Boyce, who was so excited for me and wanted to be here, uh isn’t here today. His all too brief appearance in this life though inspired me beyond words.
[snorts] Cameron said, “We can’t take it with us, so it’s about what you leave.” And and with this, I promise Cameron that I will carry this goodness with me in all the days of my life. ; But the most devastated group besides his family was the cast of Jesse. Cameron had made a huge splash in this world.
But Jesse was his longestterm project. Thus, he’d gotten the closest with the cast. Pton List took to Instagram writing, “Cameron, the boy whose contagious laugh I can still hear. The boy who left everyone feeling hopeful and full of love. He was younger than me, but taught me how to spread love and kindness more than anyone that has been in my life.
He lifted everyone around him and inspired and pushed me to be a better person than I ever would have been without his guidance, patience, and love. I can barely see with my eyes anymore from crying so hard. Cameron, I love you with every ounce of me, and I thank you for the time I had with you being in my life and being my brother forever and always.
There is a hole in my heart that will never heal left for you. I will never stop talking about you. Too much talent and love to go so soon. You are the most special person I’ve ever had the honor of encountering. Cameron Boyce. You left everyone, including me, better than when you found them.
Heaven has gained a beautiful soul. Wish I could hug you one last time. Cam, my heart is broken. I’ve never hurt this bad. Your sister forever and always. Payton. ; He was one of my best friends and he was like a brother to me growing up. So, every time something big happens, I want to call him. [sighs and gasps] Um, yeah, I didn’t expect to cry cuz I talk about him so much that I don’t expect to cry anymore.
; Um, ; yeah, it said different times. ; Kan Bra, who played Ravi, kept it brief initially but eventually delved into detail on YouTube. What is the most painful thing anyone has ever said to you? ; Finding out, you know, losing my best friend. That realization was really jarring because the words made that experience concrete and real cuz you don’t want to believe it.
; What do you miss most about your friend? ; I miss his laughter a lot. Like you could pick him out of a crowd cuz his laughter was like so distinct and it was so genuine and it just like made you feel better. Like I’m not even that funny of a person, but he would always laugh at my jokes and that made me feel really good.
So I’d say he was like my biggest cheerleader in that way. Debbie Ryan, who played the titular role of Jesse, would post a video on Instagram of a tribute table she had made. ; I mean, everyone probably knows this, but spending time with him, he was just so sparkly and just always, you know, very sharp, very funny, and had such a great sense of humor and never needed to like tear someone down.
You know, there are some people who only have a sense of humor that if someone loses, they win. and he was not that person. Um, but so sharp ; writing this effervescent soul attracted art, respect, poetry, kindness, community. What a gift to be brought together today and a deeply bittersweet celebration of a life we were so fortunate to intersect with.
His mom told me he is our compass and it’s showing us all directions have pointed to love and light and togetherness. Thank you for what you’ve given us and continue to give us. The most odd reaction appeared to be Sky Jackson. She was the youngest on Jesse and played Cameron’s little sister on the show and she would immediately go live on Instagram after getting the news.
; Hang out with Payton. I saw her just yesterday. Me, Debbie, Payton, and K all had dinner. And um Kevin even um having like dinner with the cast the other night. Me, Debbie, Payton, K, and Kevin. Like it was just sad because like he just was not there. I don’t know how to feel. I don’t know how to explain it.
But I mean, he’s going to be miss forever and ever and ever. ; Yeah. ; And like now, the first time I went live, I was like literally I was um like not okay. Like I was crying, you know, commenting rest in peace to people who aren’t dead and thinking it’s a joke and creating memes about it. You know, tomorrow isn’t promise.
So, I’m asking that you guys please stop that. But now I’m not crying. But I feel more comfortable kind of talking about it. Like one day when there’s going to be a Jesse reunion, he’s not going to be there. ; I was thinking about that ; like for his like, you know, like ; it’s only been like 5 years. ; For years, Sky would post heartfelt tributes to Cameron, mourning the loss of her closest childhood friend.
But this is where things take a creepy and pretty disrespectful turn. Recently, Sky has been obsessed with artificial intelligence. from using it to edit her face to making entirely fake photos. This is where Cameron Boyce comes in. Recently, Sky has been in a lot of hot water over the edits she’s been posting of Cameron.
The first was of him drinking wine in heaven with a bunch of angels in the background, and the second photo was an AI photo of her and Cameron together, but the third photo was what caused for concern. She posted a photo of herself holding two ginger twins. Immediately, people began speculating that this was a mockup of what her and Cameron Boyce’s kids might look like.
Now, it’s important to note that Snapchat is a monetized platform, and people began accusing Sky of posting photos of Cameron, all for the purpose of using it as the thumbnail of her Snapchat story so that people would click on them, and she could get more views and money. So many people genuinely wondering what was going through Skye’s head. This was alarming.
By 2021, Cameron’s final project would release into the world, but his cast was still mourning his sudden death. To this day, stars from Jesse, Grown-Ups, and Descendants alike all publicly remember Cameron every year as an intelligent, tactful, talented, charismatic, one-of-a-kind friend.
Cameron definitely lives on through the Cameron Boy Foundation as well, helping hundreds of people across the world, continuing Cameron’s most important work even in the afterlife. As for Descendants, Disney would reboot the series in 2021 as an animated series without Cameron’s character of Carlos. ; Hold on. ; No. ; No.
Are you okay? ; Yeah. No, I just um I really wish Carlos was here. ; We all do. ; We were going to wait until the reception, but now seems like a better time. ; Well, [snorts] it’s so beautiful. It’s our crests, the four VKs linked together forever. I love it. Thank you guys. ; By 2024, Disney would bring the Descendants cast back together for a final movie not tied to the trilogy, but still taking place in the same world as the franchise.
This is where the most recent and meaningful tribute to Cameron would be made by Disney and Kenny Ortega. As just as they’re getting ready to not allow any more villains, China and MLAN’s character steps up to the plate. This time not just for Carlos, but for Cameron Boyce. This is for Princess Red. ; Are you sure? It’s what Carlos would have wanted.
So don’t do it for me. Do it in honor of him. Cam, I would say so distinctly he could be casually like making a sandwich and would just sing and you’d be blown away and like he would just be joking and doing a bit and dance and you would be like how do you have that control over your body? So if they give him physical comedy or stunts or sort of vocally, tonally he could just make everything funnier because he was deeply skilled at the things.
And there were times where of course when Disney Channel heard Cameron sing they were like do that and he I was like what were you saying like do you want to like do we could work on music? We could do stuff and he was like no I like to do it for me like dancing. No, it’s it’s kind of a me thing. And I think he became so aware at such a young age of the fact that people like turn people into heart throbs and it becomes not about the thing.
And he cared so much about artistic expression that he wanted to protect it and protect its integrity and sort of like leaning against what the easy path would be, what the sort of glamorized path would be so that he could have it for real in a way that really impacted people. Shine. [singing] I need a soul.
