Amanda Bynes attends Nickelodeon’s 17th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards on April 3, 2004 in Westwood, California ; Amanda Bynes takes a selfie in December 2023. Photo:
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic ; Amanda Bynes/ Instagram
Amanda Bynes is always looking ahead at what’s next.
The actress first rose to fame on Nickelodeon, joining the cast of the kids’ sketch comedy show All That in 1996 at 10 years old. Her talents as a young comedian helped her land her own Nickelodeon show, The Amanda Show, in 1999. It skyrocketed Bynes as a celebrity, earning her three consecutive Kids Choice Awards for Favorite Female TV Star and nabbing her a spot on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list in 2003 — when she was 17 years old.
As a teen, Bynes spread her wings beyond Nickelodeon and starred opposite Jennie Garth in the WB sitcom What I Like About You. She also made her way to the big screen, appearing in teen rom-com films such as 2003’s What a Girl Wants, 2006’s She’s the Man and 2007’s Hairspray (which earned Bynes her first Screen Actors Guild Award nomination).
While the actress’ résumé continued to grow, Bynes ultimately quit acting in 2010 after struggling with substance abuse, mental health and legal troubles. The former superstar removed herself from the spotlight and spent the next decade in and out of mental health facilities. Bynes was also placed under the conservatorship of her parents, Lynn and Rick Bynes, for nearly nine years.
Fast forward, Bynes has leaned into her passion for fashion and also found ways to stay connected to her fanbase. On April 15, the Sydney White alum announced that she joined the subscription-based platform OnlyFans to chat with her followers.
So where is Amanda Bynes now? Here’s a look at everything the former actress has been up to since stepping away from Hollywood.
Amanda Bynes arrives at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards on June 5, 2011 in Universal City, California. Jason Merritt/Getty
Bynes’ decision to stop acting stemmed from body image issues she first experienced in the early naughts.
Bynes’ insecurities over her image began after starring in the 2006 film She’s the Man, where she played a teenage girl pretending to be her twin brother. The movie sent her into a “deep depression,” she revealed to Paper magazine in 2018, and led her to start abusing the drug Adderall after she learned some women took it to stay thin.
The combination of drug usage and a strong dislike of her appearance led Bynes to quit her role in the movie Hall Pass — but it was the 2010 movie Easy A, which Bynes starred in opposite Emma Stone, which led her to leave the acting world behind.
“I literally couldn’t stand my appearance in that movie and I didn’t like my performance,” she told Paper. “I was absolutely convinced I needed to stop acting after seeing it.”
Amanda Bynes poses for a photo in September 2019. Amanda Bynes/ X
Following Bynes’ retirement from acting, the former teen icon had several brushes with the law between 2012 and 2014 — including arrests over allegations of hit-and-runs and DUIs. Bynes later reached settlements with the two victims involved in the separate hit-and-runs and the charges were dismissed, per Today. After getting charged with a DUI in 2012, it was later dismissed in a plea deal, CNN reported.
In addition to her legal troubles, Bynes began displaying concerning behavior, including allegedly starting a small fire in a stranger’s driveway. The fire incident led to Bynes being hospitalized under a 72-hour involuntary psychiatric hold, police authorities told The Hollywood Reporter.
Shortly after, Bynes’ parents, Lynn and Rick Bynes, applied for a conservatorship of the actress, claiming that she was paranoid and a danger to herself. Lynn was granted temporary conservatorship of her daughter in August 2013 and was named as Amanda’s official conservator shortly after.
Bynes remained under the conservatorship for the next nine years until she filed to terminate in February 2022. At the time, the former actress believed that her health and well-being had improved enough that protection of the court was “no longer necessary” — and her parents, Lynn and Rick, agreed, stating that they were in “100 percent support” of her decision.
A tentative ruling in March 2022 determined that “the conservatorship is no longer required and that grounds for establishment of a conservatorship of the person no longer exist.” A day later, Bynes’ conservatorship was officially terminated.
“Following today’s decision by the judge to terminate my conservatorship, I would like to thank my fans for their love and well wishes during this time. I would also like to thank my lawyer and my parents for their support over the last nine years,” Bynes told PEOPLE in an exclusive statement at the time.
She continued, “In the last several years, I have been working hard to improve my health so that I can live and work independently, and I will continue to prioritize my well-being in this next chapter.”
Amanda Bynes. Amanda Bynes/ Instagram
Bynes spent the first several years of her conservatorship living a quiet life out of the spotlight. She stepped back into the public eye in 2018 by returning to social media and revealing that she was four years sober and enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM).
At the time, Bynes shared plans for starting her fashion line and even teased a possible return to acting.
“Amanda is doing exceptionally well,” her lawyer, David Esquibias, told PEOPLE in 2018. “She is attending school and, as always, devoted to fashion.”
Bynes also reconciled her once-tumultuous relationship with her parents in 2018, apologizing for the accusations she leveled against them on X in the past (including that her father was abusive toward her and was controlling her via micro-chip). In an interview with Paper magazine, she admitted that that behavior was “drug-induced” and that she felt “ashamed and embarrassed.”
“I’m so sorry to whoever I hurt and whoever I lied about because it truly eats away at me,” she said in the November 2018 cover story. “It makes me feel so horrible and sick to my stomach and sad. Everything I worked my whole life to achieve, I kind of ruined it all through Twitter.”
Despite a relapse at the end of 2018 — that resulted in her checking into a mental health facility in January 2019 — Bynes graduated from FIDM in June 2019.
After completing a year in rehab, the former actress moved into a sober living facility and revealed her engagement to Paul Michael. The two planned to move in together once Bynes’ conservatorship ended, but ended their relationship in July 2022.
Amanda Bynes. Amanda Bynes/Instagram
After the end of Bynes’ conservatorship in 2022, the former Nickelodeon star planned to reunite with her All That castmates at 90s Con in March 2023. Though Bynes told PEOPLE she was “really excited” to see her former costars, she canceled her appearance at the last minute due to an undisclosed health issue.
TMZ reported that days before 90s Con, Bynes sought help while experiencing an episode. Her mental health struggles continued in 2023, with the former actress spending time in different mental health facilities.
Bynes provided an update on her mental health on her Instagram Stories in March 2024. She revealed to her fans that, though she had spent the past several months dealing with depression, she was “doing a lot better now.”
Career-wise, Bynes launched a short-lived podcast called Amanda Bynes & Paul Sieminski: The Podcast in December 2023. After one episode, though, Bynes announced on her Instagram Stories that she was putting “a pause” on the project.
With her podcast on hiatus, Bynes turned her attention to fashion. The FIDM graduate revealed in October 2024 that she was collaborating with fashion designer Austin Babbitt, also known as Asspizza, on a few pieces featuring her original artwork.
The duo created a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, both of which sold out on Babbitt’s website. Bynes also shared exclusively with PEOPLE that she and Babbitt were “working on doing a pop-up art show in December,” adding that it “will have art and clothing.”
Most recently, Bynes announced on April 15 that she launched an account on OnlyFans. Though the subscription-based platform is known for NSFW content, Bynes clarified that she wanted to use it to further connect with her fanbase.
“I’m doing onlyfans to chat with my fans through dm’s. I won’t be posting any sleazy content. Excited to join,” she wrote on her Instagram Stories.
