Summary
- Ariana Grande reveals that she’s “reprocessing” her time working on
Victorious
following the allegations made in the
Quiet on Set
docuseries. - Granda advocates for more protection for child stars and admits that some scenes from her show don’t feel appropriate now.
-
Quiet on Set
alleges that Schneider created toxic environments on his shows that led to the abuse of cast and crew members. Schneider has denied these claims.
Ariana Grande reflects on her time filming Victorious following the recent allegations made about Nickelodeon. First airing in 2010, Victorious stars Victoria Justice as Tori Vega, chronicling her time at a Hollywood performing arts school. The Nickelodeon show was created by Dan Schneider, who has, along with the network itself, since become a controversial figure following claims made in the Investigation Discovery Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries. Grande played Cat Valentine in Victorious, appearing as a series regular in all four seasons.
During a recent appearance on the Podcrushed podcast, Grande breaks her silence on the Nickelodeon allegations, though neither Grande nor the podcast hosts mention Schneider or the Quiet on Set documentary explicitly. The star reflects on her time filming Victorious and expresses how she’d like to see young actors supported in the future. Check out her comments below:
“I was fourteen. I flew out to audition with Liz Gillies for Victorious and we were all very excited. We got cast and it was the best news we could hear. We were young performers who just wanted to do this with our lives more than anything, and we got to and that was so beautiful.
“We had some special memories and we feel so privileged to have been able to create those roles and be a part of something that was so special for a lot of young kids. I think we’re reprocessing our relationship to it a little bit now.
“Obviously, my relationship to [child stardom] is currently and has been changing. I’m reprocessing a lot of what the experience was like. I think that the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting. I think there should be therapists. I think there should be parents allowed to be wherever they want to be. If anyone wants to do this, or music, or anything at this level of exposure, there should be in the contract something about therapy is mandatory twice a week or thrice a week, or something like that.
“Specifically about our show, I think that was something that we were convinced was the cool thing about us — is that we pushed the envelope with our humor. And the innuendos were…it was like the cool differentiation. And I don’t know, I think it just all happened so quickly and now looking back on some of the clips I’m like, ‘Damn, really? Oh sh-t’…and the things that weren’t approved for the network were snuck on to like our website or whatever.
“I guess I’m upset, yeah,”
Nickelodeon & Dan Schneider Allegations Explained
What Claims Are Made In Quiet On Set?
The Quiet on Set docuseries aired earlier this year, and essentially serves as an exploration of the conditions that child actors and crew members were subjected to while working on select Nickelodeon shows during the ’90s and 2000s. Schneider, specifically, has been a key figure in the docuseries, with allegations made regarding the toxic atmosphere behind-the-scenes of his shows. Schneider was a prolific writer, executive producer, and creator at the network, responsible for shows like Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, The Amanda Show, Victorious, and iCarly, among others.
Justice commented on the
Quiet on Set
allegations
in May, expressing conflicted feelings about Schneider since he launched her career. She admits, however, that ”
Dan had a very large ego,
” and that there were times she felt like she ”
was being treated unfairly
.”
One of the biggest revelations from Quiet on Set came from Drake & Josh star Drake Bell, who reveals that he was sexually abused by acting coach Brian Peck, who was convicted back in 2004. Schneider, who does not appear in the documentary, is largely framed as someone who facilitated toxic work environments on his shows, and some of those interviewed allege that he is responsible for instances of racism, sexism, verbal abuse, and harassment. Schneider, it is claimed, was delivering so many popular shows that he was able to get away with this behavior.
For his part, Schneider has denied the claims made in Quiet on Set, and he is now suing Investigation Discovery for defamation. Per THR, Schneider denies that he had any knowledge of the abuse taking place on his shows and that he “was not a child sexual abuser himself.” The claims made on set have certainly changed the legacy of many Nickelodeon shows like Victorious, and Grande and others who worked on the shows are evidently now looking back on their experienes through a different lens.
Source: Podcrushed