Entertainment
Alyson Stoner Jokes ‘Cheaper by the Dozen 2’ Costar Taylor Lautner ‘Almost’ Made Her Straight
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NEED TO KNOW
- Alyson Stoner joked that their Cheaper by the Dozen 2 costar Taylor Lautner once made them question their sexuality
- “Almost convinced me I was straight. đ€,” Stoner said in an Instagram comment, reacting to a romance scene opposite the actor in the 2005 film
- Stoner identifies as pansexual and queer and uses they/them pronouns
Alyson Stoner joked that they had conflicting thoughts about their sexuality while starring opposite Taylor Lautner in Cheaper by the Dozen 2.
In a July 2 Instagram post, Lautner, 33, shared a video of the 2005 film playing on an outdoor screen. The movie scene featured in the post saw the actor casually putting his arm around Stoner’s character while they were on a movie theater date, as their film dads â Steve Martin and Eugene Levy â watched on in horror.
Turning the camera on himself, Lautner mimicked the scene that was shown, placing his arm around his wife, Tay Lautner, as she sat on a lawn chair beside him.
Lautner referenced the scene in the caption of his social media post, writing, “The move still works 20 years later đ,” and Stoner, 31, popped in the comments herself and said, “đźâđš Got me good! Almost convinced me I was straight. đ€.”
In response, Lautner wrote back to Stoner â who identifies as pansexual and queer and uses they/them pronouns â “OMFG YOU WIN,” as his wife chimed in to add, “This is so goodđđ.”
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Michael Tullberg/Getty; Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Cheaper by the Dozen 2 followed 2003’s Cheaper by the Dozen. The first film, a remake of the 1950 movie of the same name, centered on a large family as they adjusted to their new lives in a new town. The sequel followed the family as they took a vacation and went head-to-head with a rival family.
Martin, 79, starred as patriarch Tom Baker, while Bonnie Hunt played his wife, Kate Baker. Alongside Stoner, the other twelve Baker children were played by Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, Hilary Duff, Kevin G. Schmidt, Jacob Smith, Forrest Landis, Liliana Mumy, Morgan York and Blake Woodruff, plus Brent and Shane Kinsman.
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Lautner starred in Cheaper by the Dozen 2 as Elliot Murtaugh, one of the members of the rival family the Bakers go up against in the film.
Other members of the Murtaugh family included dad Jimmy Murtaugh, played by Levy, 78, plus Carmen Electra, Shawn Roberts, Jaime King and Robbie Amell, among others
Alamy
Stoner opened up about their sexuality in a candid first-person essay published in Teen Vogue in 2018.
In it, they revealed that they’d fallen in love with a woman, before expanding on their overall sexuality.
âI, Alyson, am attracted to men, women, and people who identify in other ways. I can love people of every gender identity and expression,” they said. “It is the soul that captivates me. It is the love we can build and the goodness we can contribute to the world by supporting each otherâs best journeys.â
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Stoner revealed that by coming out, they lost out on job opportunities. “I did end up getting fired from a children’s show because they felt that I was unsafe, now that they knew I was queer, to be around kids,” they said on an episode of I’m Literally Screaming. “So there was definitely discrimination.”
Stoner is set to detail their life as a child actor in their soon-to-be-released memoir, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything, out Aug. 12.
Entertainment
Vans Warped Tour Montreal 2026: Everything you missed
The Vans Warped Tour continued its 2026 run this weekend in Montreal with legendary acts like A Day To Remember, All Time Low, Yellowcard, and more. With fans from all over flocking north of the border to catch their favorite pop punk, emo, and hardcore acts, the weekend was nonstop music and action. Ahead, see what you missed from the tourâs latest stop in La MĂ©tropole â and what you can look forward to at the remaining Warped Tour stops this year.
Entertainment
Melissa Gilbert advocates for young stars to be protected after Hayden Panettiere’s death

Melissa Gilbert fiercely advocated for child stars to be protected after Hayden Panettiere tragically died last week
âWithin one year, Michelle Trachtenberg, Daveigh Chase and Hayden Panettiere have died,â the âLittle House on the Prairieâ alum wrote via a Substack essay titled âEnough Is Enough.â
âThree former female child actors of the same generation are gone. Tragically, heartbreakingly, agonizingly too soon,â she continued.
âThey are gone and the question I have been turning over and over in my head is, âWHY?â Why are these three sweet, wildly talented, vibrant, vital young women gone?â
The producer, 62, admitted that though she didnât know Panettiere personally, she briefly worked with both Trachtenberg and Chase.
Trachtenberg died at age 39 in February 2025 from complications of diabetes mellitus, while Chase died on June 16 at the age of 36 from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
As for Panettiere, she was found dead on Aug. 16 at a Greenville, South Carolina, Airbnb she was staying at with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson. She was 36.
Gilbert said she takes the deaths personally because it feels like she âwas them.â She then listed several other former child stars, including Brooke Shields, Dakota Fanning, Ellie Fanning and Drew Barrymore âto name a few.â
âWe are all members of the same tribe; Female Former Child Performers, and when one of us dies, it runs through all of us like an electrical current,â she penned. âWhen three of us die so close together, something is very, very wrong.â
The former âWhen Calls the Heartâ actress explained how she and former child stars âknow the stories of how the entertainment industry uses, abuses, exploits and then throws away its youngest.â
âBut for some reason, this trend is getting worse,â she added. âMy thinking is that it is tied to the invention of the mobile phone.â
Gilbert argued that actors suffer from a lack of privacy while out in public and in the media, posing the question, âHow do we fix or end this before someone else dies?â
She also got candid about growing up in the entertainment industry and on the âLittle House on the Prairie,â writing, âI canât tell you how many times I worked while horribly sick, injured or worse.â
The âWhen We Last Spokeâ star explained how her father died when she was 11 years old and how she returned to work âwithin months.â
âAnd not one single adult on that set discussed it with me or offered condolences,â Gilbert, who portrayed Laura Ingalls on the beloved western series, added. âI later found out that the fear was I would become too upset to work. I was eleven, my Daddy had just died and I was shattered.â
âThank God my character cried in every single episode. That, as twisted as it sounds, was my therapy. My release.â
Gilbert suggested that all former child stars should come together to âenact real, substantive change,â explaining that free mental health resources for actors should be a top priority.
She concluded her emotional essay, sharing that she has âan imageâ of Panettiereâs 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, growing up without her mom.
The pre-teen has grown up in Ukraine with her father, Wladimir Klitschko, after the late actress gave up custody in 2018 due to her ongoing battle with postpartum depression and addiction. However, Panettiere maintained a strong bond with Kaya and often visited with her.
âAnd now I am weeping as I type this and I just want to scream from the rooftops,â Gilbert signed off, adding, âENOUGH!â
Gilbertâs passionate essay came after her husband, Timothy Busfield, 69, was charged in a child sex abuse case back in June.
On Jan. 13, the âWest Wingâ actor was arrested on charges of criminal sexual contact of a minor and child from incidents with two twin boy child stars dating back to 2022.
Busfield denied the allegations against him, telling police at the time of his arrest that it was âhighly likely that he would haveâ had contact with the two victims, who were 7 years old at the time.
Gilbert has stood by the âThirtysomethingâ starâs side, with her rep previously telling Page Six, âMelissa stands with and supports her husband and will address the public at an appropriate time.â
She also claimed that Busfield was âthe last person in the world who would hurt a child,â telling âGood Morning Americaâ in April that she was â100% confidentâ he would be exonerated.
Busfield will go to trial in May 2027.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSAâs National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Entertainment
‘DWTS’ alum Peta Murgatroyd reveals how family’s adjusting after move to Florida

Peta Murgatroyd revealed she and her family â including husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy â are enjoying a âgreat lifestyleâ in Florida after moving from Los Angeles.
âWeâve always loved Florida, weâve always loved the lifestyle here,â the âDancing With the Starsâ alum said in a since-expired Instagram Stories upload on Friday, per Us Weekly.
âWe fell in love with Boca because it, kind of, has everything, the best of everything,â the pro dancer, 40, said, sharing that theyâre âreally close to Miamiâ and âhave the beachâ nearby.
Murgatroyd, who was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, also cited âreally top-rated schoolsâ and âamazing sportsâ for their sons â Shai, 9, Rio, 3, and Milan, 2.
The two-time Mirrorball champ admitted that she thought she âwould have a bigger problemâ with the heat and shared that people told her, âYouâre gonna come back to Cali.â
Still, sheâs happy with the cross-country move, noting, âCali will always be a home of ours because we lived there for 20 years but, right now, I think this is what our fam needs and we are loving every second.â
âItâs the best,â she divulged.
Murgatroyd also gushed over the âvery sweet, very nice, very accommodatingâ neighbors sheâs encountered, claiming âthis never happened over thereâ in LA and that the Florida âmothers are all really nice.â
âI wanted Shai to have the childhood that I had and I can see it happening. He has playdates, he has boys knocking on our door, saying âHey come play, letâs go ride our bikes,’â she said. âItâs the best thing for me, and itâs all I want. Iâm so happy.â
Not only that, but she noted the convenience of having nearby friends for her children and âa CVS or Walgreens on every corner,â saying, âI love it; I feel like at this stage of my life with three boys, Iâm about convenience.â
Murgatroyd and Chmerkovskiy, 46, detailed their move in an emotional YouTube video in June, saying at the time that it was âthe best decisionâ for their young family.
âThere are tears you donât expect, goodbyes that hit harder than you imagined, and moments where you wonder if youâre making the right decision,â she wrote in an Instagram post at the time. âBut sometimes you have to leave whatâs comfortable to find whatâs meant for you.â
In a separate Instagram post, Murgatroyd reflected on the âfun rideâ of living in LA in their $18K-a-month home but said âwe have to move on to new things, new life and new adventures, and make new memories.
The âDWTSâ couple married in July 2017 and have since moved on from the long-running competition show.
Murgatroyd last competed on Season 32 in 2023 and Chmerkovskiy â a one-time winner â last competed on Season 25 in 2017.
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