Ariana Grande is the latest Nickelodeon star to open up about the allegations made on the Investigation Discovery docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. Before Grande took over pop music, the Wicked actress starred in Victorious and its spinoff, Sam & Cat, in the early-mid 2010s as the ditzy Cat Valentine. Both series were created by Dan Schneider, who has wildly been accused of abuse, discrimination, and other inappropriate behavior towards child actors and his staff.
The Quiet on Set documentary saw several former child actors and staff members across Nickelodeon shows, such as All That, The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, and Zoey 101, come forward about their time at the network and their experiences. Drake Bell even opened up about the sexual abuse he endured. The documentary, which has five episodes, has brought attention to the working environments for child actors, with several other former child actors coming forward themselves. Via People, Grande appeared on Penn Badgley’s podcast Podcrushed and gave her reaction to it all and what needs to be done.
“A lot of people don’t have the support that they need to get through performing at that level at such a young age, but also dealing with some of the things that the survivors who have come forward…there’s not a word for how devastating that is to hear. I think that the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists, I think there should be parents allowed to be wherever they want to be.”
While the singer did not appear in the Quiet on Set documentary, she was brought up due to the nature of some of the things she had to do as Cat Valentine for the Victorious tie-in website, TheSlap, such as videos that may seem innocent but have been looked at as NSFW. She continued by sharing how she and her co-stars “pushed the envelope with [their] humor.”
“And the innuendos were like, we were told and convinced as well that it was the cool differentiation,” Grande explained. “And I don’t know, I think it all just happened so quickly, and now looking back on some of the clips I’m like, ‘That’s… damn, really?’ The things that weren’t approved for the network were snuck on to like our website or whatever it was, and that is another discovery. But I’m going into it…I guess I’m upset.”
Additionally, a source close to Ariana Grande told People, “While Ariana’s personal experience as a child actor was not the same as those who have spoken out, the issues recently raised have allowed her to have a look back at her time as a young professional through an adult lens with a new and different perspective. As said on the podcast, Ariana is devastated by the stories from survivors who have come forward and supports and urges more conversations to happen around how to protect young professionals in the industry.”
All five episodes of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV are streaming on Max.