Tim Allen on Home Improvement son Zachery Ty Bryan: “I don’t know what happens when people get corrupted”

On this week’s Very Special Episode of Home Improvement, The Hollywood Reporter is digging up a lot of dirt on Zachery Ty Bryan, who played oldest son Brad Taylor. Bryan has apparently been tangled up in a lot of untoward business in recent years (among other odd details, he plagiarized Armie Hammer’s divorce announcement, the least and most petty of his misconduct). His post-Home Improvement career includes producing movies, making it big with bitcoin, and providing commentary for conservative outlets. But he’s also faced legal trouble, having faced charges of domestic violence and driving under the influence and accusations of duping investors into a crypto scam.

“I don’t know what’s going on with him,” laments Bryan’s TV dad Tim Allen to THR. “Zach is a great kid who has grown into a complex man. All you can do is step aside and let somebody go through their process. At a certain point, he deviated from the guy I know to somebody who is reacting to situations that I had nothing to do with and can’t control.”

Well, no one was accusing Allen of being in on the crypto scheme, but point taken. “I don’t know what happens when people get corrupted,” Allen says ominously. “You just don’t know.”

He did have something to do with turning Bryan into a child star, which is historically a corrupting factor. Speaking with THR, Bryan himself says it was “really difficult” trying to make it as an actor after Home Improvement, and clearly he eventually turned to other outlets in the industry. He downplays the domestic violence charges (he is still involved with the woman whom he was charged with abusing, and they have since had three children), admits to having problems with alcohol, and calls his investors’ disappeared cash the price of doing business. “What people don’t understand is that you take risks,” he tells the outlet. “Nothing is for sure. It’s the same with movie investments and everything else, you lose or you win.”

As for Allen, he has optimism for his on-screen son: “I know Zach’s heart. He’s got to figure out his own way.” You can read the full report here.