A year before RJ Mitte died by suicide Monday, the “Breaking Bad” actor admitted in an interview that he lost most of his earnings from the acclaimed TV show due to the actions of a former business manager who allegedly pocketed money that was supposed to go to paying his taxes.

The 34-year-old Mitte, who also was a disability rights activist, opened up on "The Iced Coffee Hour" podcast in November 2025 about hiring the business manager. He said he was a teenager at the time and wanted help managing the money he was earning from the Emmy-winning show.

“I wanted to protect my funds. I was 17, 18,” explained Mitte. The Mississippi native played the teenage son of Bryan Cranston’s chemistry teacher-turned meth kingpin throughout all five seasons of “Breaking Bad,” which ran from 2008 to 2013. Mitte was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a young child, and his character, Walter “Flynn” White Jr., also had the condition.

“Everyone’s kind of pushing me to make sure that I have a proper accountant,” said Mitte, who began working on the show at age 14.

But instead of providing proper advice, the manager left Mitte with a financial nightmare that took him the next decade to pay off, costing him more in taxes than he earned from the AMC show, as he revealed to podcast hosts Graham Stephan and Jack Selby.

Mitte died by suicide Monday at his home in Brownsville, Texas, his representative confirmed to People magazine.

“It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of beloved actor, philanthropist, and passionate disability rights advocate RJ Mitte,” the actor’s rep previously said in a statement announcing his death.

“I’m in deep despair as I write this tonight,” Cranston shared in a lengthy post on Instagram Monday. “RJ Mitte, my sweet son on ‘Breaking Bad,’ has died. I met him when he was only 14 years old when he was cast as Walter White Jr., a part he played with such joy and enthusiasm.”

“That kid was pretty raw when we started shooting the pilot in February of 2007, but little by little we watched him grow into a really fine actor,” Cranston continued. “He parlayed his experience on the show to be a vocal advocate for performers with disabilities, and was the head of a philanthropic organization with a focus on helping the disabled community. All that promise and potential now is such a loss.”

Cranston also revealed that he and Mitte texted each other a few weeks before his death and planned to meet for lunch. The veteran actor said he “loved him and thoroughly enjoyed being with him throughout the years on the series, and after the spotlight on ‘Breaking Bad’ dimmed… I’ll miss you, son.”

Mitte spent his life overcoming various obstacles, starting with his birth in Jackson, Mississippi, when he suffered brain damage after he was born not breathing, the Daily Mail reported. His birth mother also put him up for adoption, and his adoptive parents, Dyna Mitte and Roy Frank Mitte Jr., separated when he was 2 months old.

Mitte said he never had much of a relationship with his father, but he remained very close to his mother, who helped him manage his cerebral palsy after he was diagnosed at age 3. Cerebral palsy is a group of permanent, nonprogressive neurological disorders that affect a person’s ability to move, maintain balance and control posture due to abnormal brain development or injury, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Mitte, his mother and younger sister, Lacianne, eventually made their way from the South to Los Angeles after his sister was spotted by a talent agent and cast in a commercial. Mitte decided to also try acting and began picking up roles as an extra on shows like “Hannah Montana.”

“I had a lot of responsibility at the age of 12,” Mitte told The Guardian. “By 13, I was the main breadwinner for my family. It was scary but necessary.”

Within a year of moving to Los Angeles, Mitte landed the role on “Breaking Bad,” which is widely regarded by critics as one of the greatest TV series of all time.

But on "The Iced Coffee Hour," Mitte emphatically denied earning millions of dollars from the show.

For one thing, Mitte said he eventually had “a team” of people working for him. “I was paying to keep my career going. Everything went back into the business,” he said.

Mitte’s team included a business manager, whom he hired after hearing stories of other young actors running into financial trouble.

But Mitte’s nightmare began when it came time to pay federal income tax. The actor, who had previously managed his money, said he would write a check to pay the Internal Revenue Service. But he said the money didn’t go to the IRS.

“She didn’t lose it,” Mitte said about the business manager. “She was just siphoning funds. I write a check to pay my taxes. And instead of her using it to pay my taxes, she would send me a fake tax filing and take that money.”

The business manager’s actions ultimately left him responsible for the unpaid taxes and years of accumulated interest, he told the hosts.

“The IRS doesn’t really care about you,” he said. “They only care that you make sure that you’re paying it.”

Mitte told the podcast hosts he eventually discovered he was far from the only person affected. He later found 14 other actors who had allegedly been scammed by the same business manager, including several actors with disabilities. Mitte said it was impossible to pursue a case against the manager, in part because the money was routed through offshore accounts.

“She’s still around. It’s very common,” he said about her alleged mismanagement of his money.

But on the podcast, Mitte was surprisingly philosophical about the situation. “It was a rough thing,” he admitted. But he also said, “It was a lesson learned.”

Mitte said the situation taught him to become pretty savvy about handling his money. Like other artists, he also considered turning this painful life experience into art. “I’m writing a show on this,” Mitte said.

Following Mitte’s death, some of his other co-stars also paid tribute to him, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Dean Norris, who played Flynn’s uncle Hank, said in a statement: “Though RJ didn’t play my TV son, I always looked out for him as a young kid on set. He was a sweetheart of a young man and will be greatly missed. This is so heartbreaking, I can’t believe it. Thinking of him and his family.”

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If you or someone you know is struggling with feelings of depression or suicidal thoughts, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline offers free, round-the-clock support, information and resources for help. Call or text the lifeline at 988, or see the 988lifeline.org website, where chat is available.

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