From Jackie Coogan's $4M to Charli D'Amelio: how child creator earnings got protected
aakashgupta · x · 2026-10-23
Using Charli D'Amelio's split from the family business (her father now communicates "through her lawyer") as the hook, the thread traces creator-earnings protection: child star Jackie Coogan earned $4M in 1920s films, his mother and stepdad spent nearly all of it legally, and he recovered just $126,000 by suing at 23. California's 1939 Coogan Act mandated 15% of child performers' pay into a trust, but only a 2000 overhaul gave it teeth — and protection didn't reach TikTok-era creators until 2025.
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