The Princess Diaries Heartthrob Erik von Detten Is Accused of Elder Abuse, and the $2.1 Million Lawsuit Details Are Jaw Dropping

If you grew up in the early 2000s, you remember Josh Bryant. He was the dreamy photographer-in-the-making who stole Anne Hathaway’s attention in The Princess Diaries, the guy half a generation had a crush on before Genovia ever entered the chat. Twenty five years later, his name is back in the headlines for a reason nobody saw coming.

Erik von Detten, now 44, has been named as a co-defendant in a lawsuit accusing him of elder abuse and fraud. The alleged victim is an elderly couple who say they were talked into spending $2.1 million on gold coins worth barely more than half that. Here is what the lawsuit claims, and how a Disney Channel favorite ended up as a gold broker in the middle of it.

From Toy Story’s Sid to a Desk at a Gold Brokerage

Before we get into the court filings, a quick refresher on just how famous this guy once was. Von Detten voiced Sid, the toy-torturing kid next door, in Toy Story when he was barely 13. He played Clu, the shape-shifting alien, on the Disney Channel series So Weird. He headlined the 1998 Disney Channel original movie Brink! as Andy “Brink” Brinker. And then, of course, there was Josh Bryant in The Princess Diaries (2001), a role that cemented his place in millennial nostalgia forever.

But the acting work dried up in the mid 2000s, and von Detten did something most former child stars never admit to doing. He quit. In 2018 he took a job as a broker at Rosland Capital, a precious metals firm, telling E! that he had walked away from Hollywood in search of a consistent, realistic income for his family. It was, by all accounts, an honest pivot. The kind of story you almost want to root for, like the career reinventions actors such as Ethan Hawke has talked about when pushing back against the Hollywood machine.

Rosland Capital, however, is now a bankrupt company, having filed for bankruptcy in July 2026. And the lawsuit obtained by E! News names von Detten right alongside his former employer.

The $2.1 Million Allegations

According to the lawsuit, the couple at the center of it all are Sheila and Norman Greenberg, ages 85 and 97. The filings allege that von Detten and the firm targeted the fears and vulnerability of the elderly pair when it came to investing in gold and precious metals.

The story, as the Greenbergs tell it, started with a TV commercial. After seeing an ad for Rosland Capital in 2020, they reached out to the company and were connected with von Detten. They told the then-broker that they had approximately $2 million held in retirement accounts. What happened next is the core of the complaint.

The couple allege that they were talked into spending $2.1 million on gold coins that were worth no more than $1.3 million. The lawsuit claims von Detten placed an initial order for gold coins costing $1 million, which were put into a storage facility at an extra cost, and then purchased an additional $1 million in coins on their behalf. It would later emerge, the filings say, that the coins had been marked up in price.

Perhaps the most damaging part of the allegations is what the lawsuit says von Detten knew. The filings claim he was aware the couple had never invested in gold or other precious metals and really knew very little about these things, but believed it was a safe way to store their cash. The lawsuit says he earned their trust and confidence to the point that they agreed to accept his recommendations without question.

Five Claims and $900,000 in Damages

The complaint does not pull punches. A total of five claims have been filed against both von Detten and Rosland Capital: violations of California’s Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, fraud involving intentional misrepresentation or concealment, breach of fiduciary duty, constructive fraud, and conversion.

It is also alleged that both von Detten and the firm played on the fears and vulnerability of seniors. According to an additional report from USA Today, the Greenbergs are seeking to recover their losses alongside $900,000 in damages.

Where Things Stand Now

It is worth saying clearly: these are allegations, and the lawsuit is at the accusation stage. Nothing has been proven in court. But the optics are brutal for anyone who grew up watching him on the Disney Channel. A former child actor trading the red carpet for a brokerage desk is one thing. A former child actor named in an elder abuse lawsuit is something else entirely.

There is also a sad symmetry to the whole thing. Von Detten left acting because he wanted stability for his family, the most relatable motivation imaginable. For so many working actors, the business never offered that safety net, something stars like Dan Levy have spoken about candidly when it comes to the realities of showbiz.

Hollywood has a long memory for its former heartthrobs. Former stars get second acts all the time, whether that means a wedding everyone is talking about like Simu Liu’s celebration in France or a quiet life out of the spotlight. Whether von Detten gets to control the narrative again will depend on what happens next in court, and how the facts shake out against the very serious claims in these filings.

For now, fans of The Princess Diaries are left with a strange and uncomfortable chapter in the story of a guy they once thought they knew. And for everyone else, it is a reminder that the businesses built on trust, whether it is a gold brokerage or a bank or a dealership, run on exactly one currency. The moment that is gone, the numbers do not matter anymore.

Read the full original report via LADBible.