The belly laughs and humorous hijinks that many beloved sitcoms were known for sometimes masked troubling developments behind the scenes. In fact, the star of Diff'rent Strokes, which aired from 1978 to 1986, is now being accused of doing something concerning that affected a crew member.
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Per People, "Gary Coleman changed during his time in the spotlight, and not everyone was a fan of those changes." He allegedly was impacted negatively by his relationship with his parents. That, in turn, supposedly was unfortunately apparent in Coleman's actions when he was on the comedy's set. Things seemed to allegedly escalate when his father, Willie, was present. The issue has come up now because of a resurfaced clip from a two-year-old documentary about Gary Coleman.
"Gary Went From Being Cute to Ugly"
Hairstylist Joann Stafford Chaney voiced some disturbing comments about Coleman in that documentary. According to her, he allegedly became somewhat overbearing and arrogant. She observed, "Gary went from being cute to ugly. [He picked] up all the ugliness of his dad, telling people, 'Who do you think I am? I run this show.'"
Per the outlet, Chaney claims that Gary Coleman once told her something really bizarre, She says that he allegedly said, 'Come here, Joann. Let me slap you.'" Although she was very dismayed, to say the least, Chaney stood her ground. She replied, "I was like, 'Slap me?' I said, 'Boy, if you slap me, it will be the end of the show because I'll beat your a**.'"
She also claimed that Gary Coleman's father was not welcome on the set. "Nobody wanted Willie on set, because he created havoc. He'd be standing there so everybody knew he was there."
Another Star of the Show Echoed Joann Stafford Chaney's Opinion of Willie Coleman
Actor Todd Bridges noted in the documentary, "The atmosphere changed on the set when Mr. Coleman showed up." Furthermore, Bridges said, "I remember the first thing I heard from him was, 'Look out, look out, the star is here!' and Gary came in on the top of some bodyguard's shoulders. I looked at Conrad [Bain, an actor in the cast] and he looked at me and he was like, 'Okay, this is gonna change things.'"
