Reclusive Disney Star, 36, Looks Unrecognizable Covered In Face Tattoos and Piercings During Rare TV Appearance — After Actor Gets Second Chance Following Murder Acquittal
Dee Jay Daniels debuted a shocking new look in the HBO documentary series 'Hollywood Demons.'
May 1 2025, Published 3:00 p.m. ET
Former Disney star Dee Jay Daniels debuted a shocking transformation 12-years after he was acquitted for murder, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Daniels, 36, who is best known for starring as D.L. Hughley's sitcom The Hughleys, confessed he made the decision to cover his face and body in tattoos after he realized he was done with acting.
Daniels said he got his tattoos when he was 18-years-old.
The 36-year-old shocked fans when he debuted his new look on the HBO documentary series Hollywood Demons, in which he shared how his experience growing up as child star shaped his adulthood, including being charged with murder.
Fans knew Daniels as Michael Hughley, the clean-cut youngest son of Hughley's character Darryl.
After The Hughleys ended following four seasons in 2002, Daniels went on to star in Disney's Sky High, in which he played nerdy sidekick Ethan.
Daniels is best-known for his role on The Hughleys and Sky High.
In the HBO series, Daniels admitted: "I like tattoos now. All these came when I was 18.
"I definitely didn't have any when I was acting."
Stunned fans wasted no time sharing their thoughts about Daniels jarring appearance online.
One X user said: "Dee Jay Daniels literally wears his trauma and pain on his face with all of them face tattoos. just sad."
Social media users claimed Daniels 'wears his trauma and pain on his face.'
Another viewer wrote on Threads: "Watching something called Hollywood Demons and they're profiling the guy who played the little boy on The Hughleys, Dee Jay Daniels. Chile...Hollywood will tear you tf up. This is awful."
On an Instagram post featuring a side-by-side image of a young Daniels and his current appearance, a user wrote: "He was such a cute kid. Hope he is doing okay."
A second echoed: "He covered his face for a reason. I bet it's a direct link to trauma from his acting days."
Viewers claimed Daniels' tattoos were an attempt to cover 'trauma' from his acting career.
Daniels' cameo in the documentary series comes 12 years after he was acquitted of murder. He was arrested in 2011 following an altercation outside of a Stockton, California, bar, in which J.J. Lewis was fatally stabbed.
He emotionally recalled the moment he found out Hughley was attending court to testify as a character witness on his behalf.
The former sitcom star said: "I was going to court, and the correctional officers gotta direct you to court, and they were like 'Daniels, did you know D.L. Hughley is here?'
"I felt esteemed, honored, that I haven’t talked to my pops in so long and the fact that he's still my pops, and that we still have that pops/son relationship, because I didn't know we had that."
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Daniels was charged with murder in 2011 and acquitted in 2012.
Through tears, Daniels continued: "The fact that he actually came down and spoke for my behalf, let people know, 'Hey, bro, he's like this, and he's like this, and he's like this. He's not that guy you are trying to pin him out to be, like stop that s---.'
While Daniels was acquitted, his friend Marcus McCliman was charged with voluntary manslaughter.
