The ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ revival has been welcomed with open arms by fans; however, there have been some controversies surrounding the show. In one of his recent statements, one of the original stars, Jake T. Austin, had made claims that he was purposefully excluded from the show. However, the star and producer of ‘Beyond Waverly Place,’ David Henrie, recently shared a post online claiming that Austin’s claims were false.
David Henrie says that Jake T. Austin’s claims about ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ are not true
Henrie posted a story on his Instagram account about the matter and shared that they had offered Austin his role on the show on multiple occasions. However, he claimed that their offers were rejected by the actor, and his current claims of not being included in the revival are not entirely true.His post read, “I would have loved to have Max back, but sadly he didn’t accept our numerous offers to join the new show. We called him, texted, went through agents, etc. I would have loved for this new generation of millions of kids to get to meet Max, but I respect his decision and wish him all the best!” Henrie’s post was also backed by ‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’ showrunner Scott Thomas. In a post made on X (formerly known as Twitter), Thomas agreed with Henrie’s statement and wrote, “I’m one of the Wizards showrunners, so I can confirm that David Henrie is correct. Jake was asked multiple times by many people. Really wanted him back. No response.”
What did Jake T. Austin say about the ‘Wizards of Waverly Place Revival’?
The actor had earlier taken to his Instagram stories to answer fan queries about why he was not on the show. He posted, “To all the Wizard fans, I just wanted to say for the record how disappointed I am to have not been included in the spinoff. I was asked back in 2020 if I was interested in reprising my role and said that I was 100% in. Unfortunately, the powers that be decided to take the show in a different direction, and my character wasn’t part of the equation. Even though I wasn’t involved, I still have nothing but love for my former castmates and wish them continued success.”Jake T. Austin was once one of the lead actors in the beloved magic show, where he played the role of Max, brother of Justin and Alex. He also reprised his role in the 2012 film that was made on the show titled ‘The Wizards Return.’ In the revival show, Henrie played the lead as Justin, while singer Selena Gomez returned for some of the episodes to play Alex; however, Max never appeared on the show, which had left many fans in a state of shock.
