Brenda Song told Dylan Sprouse's podcast she felt "underpaid and overworked" on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and recalled fainting on set after a hot tub scene went wrong.
Brenda Song is the latest Suite Life of Zack and Cody star to talk about money. "I feel like we were underpaid and overworked," Song said on the Wildmen podcast, hosted by her former co-star Dylan Sprouse and Brendan Columbus, Variety reported Tuesday, Nov. 10.
In the same breath, she gave Disney Channel some credit. "Disney did give us a platform to be sitting here right now," Song said. "So it's very hard to complain about certain things."
Song played hotel heiress London Tipton on the show, which ran from 2005 to 2008. She's now starring in Netflix's Running Point.
Her comments come a week after Sprouse said on the same podcast that his only residual check for The Suite Life was for five cents.
What did Brenda Song say about The Suite Life?
Song told Sprouse that parts of the show's run are a blur. "I don't remember years of my life," she said, Variety reported.
On residuals, she said she sees that era as one where the cast "paid them," meaning the time and work they put in. Overall, she called her own Disney story a "boring tale" and said she "had a lovely time."
So her take is mixed: grateful for the platform, frank about the hours and the paychecks.
Why did Brenda Song faint on The Suite Life set?
A hot tub scene went sideways. Song said she passed out while filming a scene that called for a hot tub, which malfunctioned. Sprouse said it was heated to "250 degrees," which is likely an exaggeration, but the point landed.
"I remember just breathing really heavy, and my chest felt really hot," Song said. She said she wondered, "Am I having a panic attack?" Then she saw stars and blacked out.
Variety didn't report any lasting injury, and Disney hasn't commented on her remarks.
What have other Suite Life stars said about pay?
Song's comments follow two other Suite Life stars who talked pay on the Wildmen podcast earlier this month, Variety reported Nov. 4.
Dylan Sprouse said the show was "extremely underfunded" even though it was hugely popular. His only Suite Life residual, he said, was five cents, from the crossover episode with Hannah Montana.
Phill Lewis, who played hotel manager Mr. Moseby, said the cast filmed long continuous stretches that Disney counted as one season. "They called it one season because they didn't have to pay us bumps," he said. Bumps are the pay raises actors usually get each new season.
Sprouse also said that, among Disney Channel's higher-ups, the show was "kind of weirdly the ugly duckling."
For the record, that ugly duckling got a three-season spinoff, The Suite Life on Deck. That's a lot of Tipton.
Has Brenda Song talked about Disney Channel before?
Yes. She has said before that she had to push Disney to let her take outside roles. Variety has reported that she went straight to then-Disney Channel boss Gary Marsh to get approval for The Social Network in 2010. "I am an actor," she told him. "When you hired me, I was not a hotel heiress."
She played Christy Lee in that film, one of her first big grown-up roles.
Where can I watch The Suite Life of Zack and Cody?
All three seasons of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody stream on Disney+, along with The Suite Life on Deck, which ran from 2008 to 2011 and moved Zack, Cody and London onto a cruise ship, the S.S. Tipton. Debby Ryan joined the cast for the spinoff.
Cole Sprouse played Cody, Dylan Sprouse played Zack, and Ashley Tisdale played candy counter girl Maddie. If you rewatch, the hot tub episodes might hit a little differently now.
Article compiled and written by Kambrea Pratt (editor-in-chief), Derek Gibbs (beat editor) and the Pirates & Princesses newsroom. Pirates & Princesses is part of WebReef Media.
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Hat Tips:
Variety (Nov. 10, 2026), Brenda Song's Wildmen podcast comments, the hot tub story and Sprouse's earlier remarks
Variety (Nov. 4, 2026), Phill Lewis' "bumps" comment and Sprouse's five-cent residual
SoapCentral, citing Variety (2025), Song's Social Network story and her quote to Gary Marsh
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