Amanda Bynes returns to the spotlight: New podcast comes post-conservatorship, retirement

Amanda Bynes is back in the spotlight, but this time as podcast host.

"Amanda Bynes & Paul Sieminski: The Podcast" debuted Saturday on Spotify, co-hosted by Bynes' best friend, biochemist and PhD student Paul Sieminski. The duo interviewed tattoo artist Dahlia Moth, who met the "Hairspray" actor at a Spirit Halloween store a few years prior.

"First episode of Amanda Bynes & Paul Sieminski: The Podcast done," Bynes wrote on Instagram Friday alongside a photo of the three sitting together and posing with peace hand signs. "Thank you @dahliamoth!"

Time will tell if Bynes, 37, plans to speak about her career or past struggles on the podcast. As the podcast description reads: "Entertainment based, Amanda Bynes & Paul Sieminski: The Podcast focuses on the hosts' loves: fashion, artists, actors, actresses, music and everything else!"

The "All That" actor announced the podcast last month on Instagram, saying the pair planned to "interview our friends, and then we're hoping to take it mainstream and interview celebrities and artists."

Amanda Bynes returns to spotlight following end of conservatorship, missed convention appearance

The television star's return to the spotlight follows nearly a decade away from the public eye, and the end of her conservatorship last year.

Bynes was set to appear at 90s Con, a fan convention celebrating all things '90s, early this year, in what would have been the child star's first public appearance since the end of her conservatorship last spring. The actor didn't make it due to an undisclosed health concern according to That's 4 Entertainment, the company that runs the convention.

Bynes rose to stardom on Nickelodeon before taking on roles in several successful movies in the early 2000s. In 2010, she took a hiatus from the industry, and her last movie role was in 2010's "Easy A" alongside Emma Stone; she announced her retirement from the entertainment industry that same year.

"I don't love acting anymore so I've stopped doing it," she tweeted at the time.

Bynes was accused of multiple hit and runs, and was arrested in 2012 for driving under the influence and in 2013 for reckless endangerment and criminal possession of marijuana, according to a report from Entertainment Weekly. During the 2013 incident, Bynes allegedly tossed marijuana paraphernalia out of her window in New York City.

In 2013, the former child star was placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold and set a fire in a neighbor's driveway. That same year, a judge granted Bynes' mother, Lynn Bynes, a temporary conservatorship to protect the actress and her estate following her legal troubles, bouts of bizarre tweets and outlandish public appearances.

Amanda Bynes:A look back on her career, mental health journey, conservatorship

The actress filed a petition in February 2022 to end the conservatorship. At the time, her attorney David A. Esquibias told People: "She believes her condition is improved and protection of the court is no longer necessary."

The conservatorship was terminated by a judge in March of that year.

Contributing: Morgan Hines

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