'90s Sitcom Child Star Reveals She Was Almost Abducted by a Fan On Set

Former child star Ashley Johnson revealed she was almost abducted by a fan after a live taping.

Her breakout role was playing Chrissy Seaver on ABC's sitcomGrowing Pains in the early 1990s. She is now known for working on projects such as The Last of Us, Blindspot, and What Women Want.

Johnson told her WeirdKids podcast cohost, Taliesin Jaffe, about the terrifying event on a recent episode.

"It was in the first year I was on, and we had only done a couple of film nights," Johnson said. "So, I hadn't done that many yet and at that time, all of the cast sort of had trailers and they were like old camper trailers. They're not like the fancy trailers that they are now. They were great. We would exit our trailers before the shoot and the audience that would be walking in, you would walk by the audience before you would walk into the studio."

The actress shared that the studio didn't have metal detectors or additional security measures that are often seen on set now. Johnson said that studio audience members could walk "within five feet" of the cast when they came to set.

"Somebody had written in and said that, ‘I am coming to set and I am going to bring a gun and I am going to murder some of the cast,'" she continued.

"So, I'm walking with my mom and then I just remember some guy hops out of the line and he grabs me and grabs me up and starts booking it. And all I remember is like, there was security that somehow got on him after some time."

The now 42-year-old recalled the man having a gun. She said she was "flying around in the air" when security intervened in the attempted abduction.

"I was clueless as to what was happening, but I was very upset and they were talking to me about it after. And they were like, ‘Are you okay?' And I just said, ‘I just think I'm gonna be in trouble,'" Johnson said.

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This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 6:45 PM.