David Henrie called out by OG 'Wizards' cast for 'personal grievances'

Everything is not what it seems with the Wizards of Waverly Place spinoff as rumours of behind-the-scenes tensions emerge.

After the series finale of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place premiered on August 4, some of the original cast members spoke out about not being included in the revival, including Jake T. Austin, David DeLuise, Dan Benson, and even original Wizards creator Todd J. Greenwald.

The new series focuses on a new generation of wizards mentored by David Henrie’s Justin Russo. Selena Gomez — who portrayed Alex Russo — makes a few appearances but mostly remained off-camera as executive producer. The finale also saw brief appearances by Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle and Maria Canals-Barrera as the Russo matriarch, Theresa.

But the OG wizards were largely missing.

According to Dan Benson — who played Justin Russo’s best friend, Zeke — the blame is on Henrie, who co-executive produced the show. Although the actor admitted he couldn’t have possibly been part of the spinoff given his recent OnlyFans ventures, Benson threw direct shade at Henrie in a series of posts on X, claiming Henrie had “personal grievances with Jake T. Austin, David DeLuise, and Jennifer Stone.”

Neither Henrie nor Gomez have addressed the growing backlash so far. However, the original cast has spoken out.

Taking to his Instagram Stories, Austin — who portrayed the youngest Russo sibling, Max — admitted that he was “disappointed” to not have been involved. He revealed that when he was approached in 2020 about the possibility of a revival, he made it clear that he 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,” Austin continued, without naming said powers. “Even though I wasn’t involved, I still have nothing but love for my former castmates and wish them continued success. Thank you to all the fans who watched over the years. The show wouldn’t be what it is without your endless support,” he concluded.

Similarly, David De Luise — who portrayed Russo patriarch Jerry — also let his feelings be known in the comments section of an Instagram post by Entertainment Tonight. 

“It would not be over if the OG wizards were really there. Missed opportunity,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, the creator of the original series simply discarded the whole show as not canon. 

“I will undo the entire Beyond canon in one simple chapter. By simply ignoring it. ‘It was all Maxs dreammmmm.’ Fixed. Moving on,” he wrote.

And while Jennifer Stone was ultimately invited for a cameo in the finale, she later revealed that Henrie — who also served as executive producer — initially rejected her involvement. “I had mourned the fact that I was not gonna be part of the reboot. I had talked to David Henrie… he was like, ‘it doesn’t really make sense for you to come in.’ And I was like, come on, we could make it make sense,” Stone told US Weekly.