…Researched and contributed by Gift BADEWO for TDPel Media.
In 2017, former child star Shaun Weiss, known for his portrayal of Greg Goldberg in Disney’s 1992 comedy, The Mighty Ducks, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine.
The mugshot taken at the time of his arrest left fans heartbroken as he looked gaunt and haggard, unrecognizable from the beloved young actor they had known.
Three years later, in 2020, another mugshot of Weiss surfaced, showing him looking even worse.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Star, Weiss opened up about his struggles with addiction and how he fell from grace in a matter of months.
A Life of Hard Drugs and Petty Crime
Weiss revealed that his life had crumbled into a cycle of hard drugs and petty crime, and he was living on the streets.
He spoke candidly about the ‘deplorable’ things he had done to survive and fund spiraling addictions to both heroin and meth.
His fiancee had left him, his father had died a month or two prior, and the lease on his apartment was running out.
A confluence of traumatic experiences led him to fill the void and numb his pain with hard drugs.
From Addiction to Recovery
Weiss’s descent into addiction was rapid, and from the time he started hard drugs to when he was homeless and a full-blown drug addict, it was probably less than six months.
In July 2017, he was arrested for theft and sentenced to 150 days in jail, but he served only 12 due to overcrowding.
A few days later, he was back behind bars after being arrested for possession of meth.
In 2020, he hit rock bottom when he was arrested for burglary while high on meth.
Fortunately, Weiss was able to get sober and is now in recovery, celebrating three years and three months of sobriety.
He is currently working as an ambassador and sober coach at Quest 2 Recovery, in Lancaster, California, where staff helped him get clean.
The Road to Redemption
Weiss’s journey has been challenging, but he is not giving up on a long career on stage or screen.
He is embarking on his first stand-up comedy tour in the US, Mighty Weiss, from June 22, 2023.
He has also returned to the screen, playing the role of a war veteran in Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle’s drama, Jesus Revolution.
Weiss hopes that by sharing his story, he can help others overcome their addictions.
He knows that he has done some deplorable things and is at the mercy of people’s compassion, but he is grateful for the chance to turn his life around and find redemption.