In 2013, two years after his Disney Channel fame came to an end, Dylan Sprouse had quietly moved away from the limelight and was spotted working as a restaurant host in New York City. This sighting came amidst both Sprouse brothers’ decision to attend college; both attended New York University from 2011 to 2015, per Variety. Dylan obtained a degree in video game design; Cole, in the humanities with a focus on archeology.
However, many fans wondered, given the history of former child stars experiencing emotional breakdowns or otherwise turbulent lifestyles as they grow into adults, whether Sprouse had “lost all his money” and hence had to resort to working a regular job.
In response, Sprouse defended his decision to work his restaurant job, revealing that he was, in fact, financially secure and only chose to take up the job for personal reasons (fittingly, a “video game addiction”), while castigating fans for undue speculation into his personal life. “To clear up the air (which is admittedly pretty rude),” he wrote on his Tumblr at the time (viaUs Weekly), “I did not take this job because I ‘lost all my money,’ I am financially secure, and took this job as a way to primarily feed my over bountiful video game addiction.” He added that “to criticize someone of [working] is pretty odd … in no way do I think any experience is a step down for me.”