{"id":803844,"date":"2026-07-15T16:44:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/803844\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T16:44:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T16:44:18","slug":"ian-somerhalder-reveals-controversial-reason-he-quit-hollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/803844\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Somerhalder reveals ‘controversial’ reason he quit Hollywood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ian Somerhalder revealed the cancellation of his Netflix series, \u201cV Wars,\u201d sparked his decision to quit acting. <\/a><\/p>\n

On a recent episode of the\u00a0\u201cHaley on the Go\u201d podcast<\/a>, Somerhalder recalled that he \u201cworked really hard\u201d on the 2019 show, and even moved his whole family to Ontario, Canada for the job.<\/p>\n

But according to Somerhalder, the final product of the sci-fi horror series \u201cwasn\u2019t even watchable.\u201d <\/p>\n

Ian Somerhalder (seen above) revealed that the cancellation of his Netflix series \u201cV Wars\u201d sparked his decision to quit acting. haley lickstein\/Youtube<\/p>\n

Somerhalder (pictured above on the \u201cHaley on the Go\u201d podcast) said the series \u201cwasn\u2019t even watchable,\u201d so he asked Netflix if he could give them millions of dollars to take \u201ccreative control of the show.\u201d haley lickstein\/Youtube<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to the studio, \u2018I don\u2019t want to put my name on this. I\u2019ll give you the money back. I\u2019ll give you millions of dollars,’\u201d the \u201cVampire Diaries\u201d alum recalled. <\/p>\n

Netflix refused to give Somerhalder any money, he said, even when he and his producing partner, James Gibb, asked for \u201ccreative control of the show.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pair took matters into their own hands by raising over $6 million and shooting \u201c10 or 12 hours of footage in 6 days,\u201d which landed Somerhalder in the hospital after his body \u201cjust shut down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou give everything, and then the show was a hit,\u201d Somerhalder, 47, explained. \u201cWe built a show that was No. 1 in 103 territories out of 120 territories. It was a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Netflix wouldn\u2019t do what Somerhalder (seen above in \u201cV Wars\u201d) asked. \u00a9Netflix\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

Somerhalder (seen above in \u201cV Wars\u201d with Adrian Holmes) raised money to shoot new footage for the show. \u00a9Netflix\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

Despite that, \u201cthe execs were fighting, and someone quietly canceled the show,\u201d Somerhalder said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the powers that be at Netflix were like, \u2018It\u2019s unfortunate. Yes, it shouldn\u2019t have happened. We can\u2019t go back, because it would set a precedent that would be terrible, so the show is done,’\u201d he recalled. <\/p>\n

The \u201cLost\u201d actor said the decision made him realize he didn\u2019t want his \u201ccareer and livelihood to be dictated\u201d by more powerful figures in the industry. <\/p>\n

Despite \u201cV Wars\u201d being \u201ca hit,\u201d the show was canceled after one season (Somerhalder is seen above with Paul Wesley in \u201cThe Vampire Diaries\u201d) \u00a9CW Network\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

Somerhalder (seen above in \u201cVampire Diaries) said he realized he didn\u2019t wan\u2019t his life \u201cto be dictated\u201d by Hollywood. \u00a9CW Network\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

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\u201cSo I pulled the plug. That was it. I walked away,\u201d he shared. \u201cThese executives are bitching at each other, and I\u2019m like, are you kidding me? Done. I\u2019m out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somerhalder added, \u201cThat\u2019s really the honest, kind of controversial way of why I walked away from the business.\u201d<\/p>\n

After quitting acting, Somerhalder and his wife, Nikki Reed,<\/a> moved to a Southern California farm and began focusing on other business ventures, including their Absorption Company, which offers high-absorption powdered supplements.<\/p>\n

Somerhalder also co-founded Brother\u2019s Bond Bourbon with his \u201cVampire Diaries\u201d co-star Paul Wesley.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I pulled the plug. That was it. I walked away,\u201d Somerhalder said (He\u2019s seen above in \u201cLost\u201d with Terry O\u2019Quinn). \u00a9ABC\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

Somerhalder (seen above with wife Nikki Reed) now lives on a California farm and is focused on his business ventures, with no plans to return to acting. WireImage<\/p>\n

In April, Somerhalder revealed he and Reed, 38, ended up in an eight-figure debt<\/a> because of a failed business. <\/p>\n

\u201cEight figures is a hard hole to climb out of,\u201d he told E! News<\/a>. \u201cBut Nikki and I did it. You know, she really negotiated us out of this deal, but we sold houses, paintings, cars, watches, everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somerhalder, who is now seven years removed from his last acting role and prioritizing his businesses and family, previously said<\/a> he has no plans to restart his Hollywood career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s in the rearview mirror.<\/a> I do,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ian Somerhalder revealed the cancellation of his Netflix series, \u201cV Wars,\u201d sparked his decision to quit acting. On…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[12374,49,48,361,9931,362,75,9713,72615,1316,348],"class_list":["post-803844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-actors","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity-businesses","tag-celebrity-news","tag-entertainment","tag-hollywood","tag-ian-somerhalder","tag-netflix","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}