" It ’s a near thing that the doc is out and it ’s putting thing on display , stories that demand to be told for accountability ’s sake . "
Last week,Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TVexposed the allegedlytoxic and abusiveculture that child stars faced during their time at Nickelodeon. The documentary largely centered on Dan Schneider, who created hit shows likeThe Amanda ShowandDrake & Josh.Since it premiered, a number of former Nickelodeon actors havespoken out.
On Wednesday’s episode of theTamron Hallshow, Kenan Thompson shared his thoughts aboutQuiet on Set.
TheSaturday Night Livecast member got his start onAll That, a kids sketch series, and starred in the show’s spinoff,Kenan & Kel.
Tamron Hall asked if Kenan had spoken to Amanda Bynes recently, and he shared that they’ve lost touch since their Nickelodeon days. “I unfortunately haven’t spoken to Amanda since she was really, really young. Like when she was doing her first movies. I think the soccer movie [She’s the Man] was around that time, was the last time I actually saw her. I’m just rooting for her from afar.”
After Tamron brought up the documentary, he said, “It’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I never witnessed, you know what I’m saying? Because all these things happened after I left, basically.”
Kenan implied that Dan wasn’t heavily involved inKenan & Kel.
“Dan wasn’t really onKenan & Kellike that,” Kenan said. “I mean, he got a ‘created by’ credit, but it was a different showrunner, so our worlds wasn’t really overly overlapping like that outside ofAll That, necessarily. And then all of that negativity kinda started happening outside of our tenure there, you know what I mean? So I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it.”
“My heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized or their families,” he continued. “I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and it’s putting things on display, stories that need to be told for accountability’s sake. But it’s definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place, and I have fond memories of my costars and stuff like that. So to hear that they’ve gone through terrible things like that is really tough.”
Tamron mentioned that her show had reached out to Dan’s team, but they directed her to his apology video onYouTube. “We also reached out, of course, to the production company, and they said that they investigate all of these things, investigate all of the allegations.”
“Well, investigate more!” Kenan exclaimed. “I mean because it’s like, it’s supposed to be a safe place, you know? It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids, and to hear all about that, it’s just like, ‘How dare you?'”
Nickelodeon released a statement to BuzzFeed regarding alleged behavior on past production sets:
" Though we can not support or negate allegation of doings from production decades ago , Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaint as part of our commitment to fostering a good and professional work environs free of molestation or other kinds of unfitting conduct . Our highest priorities are the well - being and best interest not just of our employee , casts and crew , but of all children , and we have adopt numerous safeguards over the years to serve ensure we are subsist up to our own eminent standard and the expectations of our audience . "
You can watch the full clip of theTamron Hallshow below:
ABC News
