Disney Actor Arrested for Assault as Franchise Revival Rumors Swirl
A Disney actor was arrested at the weekend – just days after rumors suggested that the studio wants to revive the beloved franchise that made him famous.
Earlier this month, Inside the Magic reported that Disney apparently wants to produce a fourth film in its iconic High School Musical series.
This year marks 16 years since the final installment of the franchise – High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) – hit theaters, with plenty of young millennials still clamoring for more from the series that gave us hits such as “Bet On It” and “We’re All In This Together.”
If the rumors are correct, reviving the series hinges on Disney’s ability to sign Zac Efron, who made his name as the franchise’s basketball-playing, musically gifted lead, Troy Bolton.
Should Efron say yes, it’s safe to assume that co-stars such as Vanessa Hudgens (who played Troy’s love interest, Gabriella Montez) and Ashley Tisdale (who played diva frenemy Sharpay Evans) would be right there at his side.
One actor who would assumedly not appear is Matt Prokop. Last weekend, the 33-year-old actor – who earned his last screen credit in the direct-to-video film April Apocalypse in 2013 – was arrested in his hometown of Victoria, Texas, after being accused of assaulting his girlfriend.
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According to TMZ, police were called after Prokop’s girlfriend told someone that he had assaulted her. While the pair had left by the time police arrived, they were later called for a second time due to a domestic disturbance in which Prokop’s girlfriend claims he shoved her and slammed her head into something.
Officers reportedly saw enough evidence of injury to arrest Prokop. He was interred into Victoria County Jail on charges of aggravated assault with a weapon and resisting arrest and later bonded out on both charges.
Prokop famously played Jimmie “Rocket Man” Zara, Troy’s freshman basketball teammate who is set up in High School Musical 3 as his successor at East High School once he graduates. During the film, he makes the winning shot in the championship game and serves as Troy’s understudy in the spring musical.
While his character was very clearly introduced as a potential in for future installments at East High after the OG High School Musical lineup graduated, these sequels never ended up hitting production. Instead, the series spawned a Disney+ spinoff in 2019, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which starred Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett as students at the “real” East High School.
Two years after High School Musical 3 hit theaters, Prokop started dating Modern Family star Sarah Hyland. However, in 2014, Hyland filed for a temporary restraining order after accusing Prokop of physical and verbal abuse throughout their relationship.
Hyland claimed that Prokop had once choked her “so tight that I could not breathe or speak,” according to court documents. “I was scared and in fear for my life.” She added that she was so scared of Prokop that she called actress Julie Bowen, who played Hyland’s on-screen mother in Modern Family, to her home to help her end her relationship.
Court documents added that Prokop “relentlessly bombarded [her] with vile, threatening and emotionally disturbing texts and voicemails including his own suicide threats” following their split. While he was initially ordered by the court to keep his distance from Hyland for three years, a permanent restraining order was granted in October 2014, and Prokop has failed to reenter the entertainment industry ever since.
Would you like to see High School Musical return to our screens? Let us know in the comments.
This post Disney Actor Arrested for Assault as Franchise Revival Rumors Swirl appeared first on Inside the Magic.
