Amanda Bynes announces retirement on Twitter

In a steady stream of Twitter posts which revealed her disillusionment with the industry, Bynes - a child actress and comedian since 1993, before transitioning to film in the early noughties - confessed that she did not enjoy acting anymore, and has hence decided to retire: "I've never written the movies & tv shows I've been apart of I've only acted like the characters the producers or directors wanted me to play... Being an actress isn't as fun as it may seem...If I don't love something anymore I stop doing it... I don't love acting anymore so I've stopped doing it... I know 24 is a young age to retire but you heard it here first I've retired..." Curiously, these posts were preceded by "I like black men I'm very attracted to them just fyi [for your information]".

Bynes became a fixture on children's channel Nickelodeon with the sketch shows All That and The Amanda Show, before landing a starring role in Big Fat Liar, a family comedy released in 2002. The following year she appeared alongside Colin Firth in a remake of 1958's The Reluctant Debutante titled What a Girl Wants (given an extra boost by the eponymous Christina Aguilera song), before going on to star in the gender-bending teen comedy She's The Man (2006) and Hairspray (2007), an adaptation of the Broadway musical (in turn adapted from a film by John Waters), where she appeared as part of an ensemble cast featuring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Queen Latifah and many others. 

The celeb gossip arm of the Los Angeles Times speculated on whether the announcement was simply a publicity stunt, as had been the case with similar - and ultimately disingenuous - moves by other celebrities such as actor Joaquin Phoenix and rapper Jay-Z. Popular YouTube pop culture pundit Michael Buckley, of the WhatTheBuck Show, was more direct: "Amanda Bynes has quit acting! This is not really a headline, since she hasn't acted since 2007..."