"I f--king lit into [them]," said Rhodes, who played on-screen mom to the Sprouse twins. "I was like, 'You do not have the right to say that to a child. You don't have the right to be writing for children if that is your attitude.'"
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody's Kim Rhodes says one of her on-screen sons, Dylan Sprouse, was once "body shamed" on the set of the Disney Channel series.
While appearing on a recent episode of Christy Carlson Romano's Vulnerable podcast, the actress -- who starred as Carey Martin, the mom to Zack (Dylan Sprouse) and Cody (Cole Sprouse) on the show -- recalled the alleged moment, saying that she stepped in to defend Dylan after he was called out for his eating habits.
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View Story"Someone of significant power came down to the craft service, which is where they have all the tasty food for those of you who don't know, and screamed at the number of donuts and said, 'No more junk food until he looks like him again [pointing at Dylan and Cole]," Martin, 54, said. "Because Dylan and Cole had different body types. And in front of everyone, Dylan was body shamed."
"I f--king lit into [them]," she continued. "I was like, 'You do not have the right to say that to a child. You don't have the right to be writing for children if that is your attitude. Never again do you speak like that. Never.'"
Rhodes went on to add that she believed the writer "was not thinking, 'This is a child with feelings.'"
She also said that both Dylan and Cole were present when the person allegedly made the rude comment.
"They were standing right there when he said that," Rhodes told Romano. "He gestured at one and then gestured at the other."
"They were not a part of my tantrum. That was upstairs and in private," she added. "I didn't want them to feel guilty for causing a problem. I didn't want them to feel responsible for my emotional reaction. I didn't want them to feel, like, 'Oh my god, now people are yelling.'"
Her appearance on Romano's podcast came just a couple of weeks after she shared on another podcast how Dylan allegedly once came to her defense.
"I got pregnant when I was on the show, and of course the show dealt with it by making fat jokes," she shared on an episode of The Back to the Best podcast earlier this month. "One of my favorite memories is Dylan had a line that was a fat joke, and he just kept skipping over it. It was in the middle of a chunk of dialogue. So he kept skipping over this laugh line."
"Finally we get to in front of the studio audience, and he skips it," Rhodes continued. "The executive producer screams 'Cut.' It's the director’s job to cut by the way. He goes, 'Cut. Dylan, say the line.' He goes, 'I would not disrespect any woman that way let alone this woman. You write something funny, and I'll say it.'"
"That's my little man. They're both my little men," she added of Dylan and Cole, now 31.
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody ran for three seasons on Disney Channel from 2005 to 2008. It spawned a sequel series, The Suite Life on Deck, which also aired for three seasons, with Rhodes appearing in several episodes as a guest star.