Ariana Grande is speaking out about the “devastating” Nickelodeon allegations from the bombshell ID docuseries “Quiet On Set.”
Grande shared her thoughts on “the survivors who’ve come forward” on Penn Badgley’s podcast, “Podcrushed,” admitting she is still working through her time at the network.
“I’m re-processing a lot of what the experience was like,” she told Badgley on the episode. “There’s not a word for how devastating that is to hear about. I think the environment just needs to be made a lot safer all around.”
The ID docuseries included multiple clips of Grande from when she starred as Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” and the spin-off “Sam and Cat.”
The show’s creator, Dan Schneider, was criticized for facilitating several sexually suggestive scenes with child actors, some of which included the “7 rings” songstress.
The “Wicked” star says, at the time, she found some of the “innuendos” in the scenes “cool,” but “now, looking back on some of the clips, I’m like, ‘Damn, really?’” She noted how surprising it is that “so many adults” approved those scenes.
“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,” Grande said. “And the things that weren’t approved for the network were snuck onto like our website or whatever.”
ariana speaks on her experience as a child actor on nickelodeon and the survivors that recently came forward, via @podcrushed: “there’s not a word for how devastating that is to hear about. i just think the environment needs to be made a lot safer” pic.twitter.com/C9SDdWrnZZ
— Ariana Grande Today ☀️ (@ArianaToday) June 12, 2024
“I think that the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting,” she added. “I think there should be therapists, I think there should be parents allowed to be wherever they want to be.”
Grande also says it was “devastating” to hear about some of the experiences her fellow cast mates went through at the time, reiterating her belief that child stars should receive therapy. “I think not only on kids’ sets. 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.”
Since the docuseries, clips of Grande from “Sam & Cat” have gone viral, showing Grande trying to milk a potato, sucking her toe, and pouring water on herself while laying on a bed.
When asked how she feels about those experiences she said, “I guess I’m upset, yeah.”
“Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” is currently streaming on HBO Max.
