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This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.

Arts & Entertainment

Teen Star Says Dad Blew His Disney Money To Impress A Woman

billy-unger.jpg
Billy Unger (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

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A 19-year-old Disney star is livid with his dad—not for embarrassing him in front of his friends, but for apparently blowing away his hard-earned cash on a girlfriend and taking a $1 million life insurance policy out on the actor.Lab Rats actor Billy Unger sued his father, William Unger, for a laundry list of things including breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation, according to E! Online. Billy claims that he had an oral agreement (rookie mistake) with his father back in Oct. 2013, making him his talent manager, business and financial adviser.

Well, that didn't go too well, and Billy says that his dad has been doing some shady things behind his back, like mishandling $400,000 of his earnings, TMZ reported. William ended up throwing away $120,000 of Billy's money to impress his girlfriend, taking her on fancy vacations and paying for her rent, the lawsuit claims. What's even worse and unnerving is that his father reportedly took out a $1 million life insurance policy on Billy's life using the actor's money to pay for it, and making himself the sole beneficiary.

And instead of giving his son the nice family discount, William was charging his son a 33.3% commission, while other managers usually only charge 10 to 20%, the suit says.

Billy wants his dad to pay him back all the money he says he stole, including damages. As for William, he says he loves his son, the claims are false, and blames the lawsuit on a "manipulative negative force in [Billy's] life whose sole focus is to administer pain." Okay...

The actor's record isn't squeaky clean though. Last June, cops pulled over Billy, who was then 18, for speeding on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. They also found that he had a blood alcohol content level of 0.08, which is the legal limit in the state, but not for minors in California. Billy ended up getting his DUI and speeding charges dropped to reckless driving.

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