Nickelodeon alum Kenan Thompson has addressed the “tough” allegations about the kids network’s troubled past at the center of Investigation Discovery’s new docuseries, “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.”
The longest-running “Saturday Night Live” cast member broke out on Nick’s “All That,” a juvenile version of the NBC sketch show. He spoke to the “Tamron Hall Show” this week about reckoning with the claims of child exploitation, racism, sexual discrimination and sexual assault by employees of the network.
“It’s a tough subject…because I can’t really speak on things I never witnessed,” said Thompson. The 45-year-old has yet to see the series but he noted that the bad acts alleged in the series “happened after I left.”
Thompson further explained, “Dan [Schneider] wasn’t really on ‘Kenan & Kel’ like that. I mean he got a ‘created by’ credit but you know, there was a different showrunner. Our worlds weren’t like overly overlapping like that outside of ‘All That’ necessarily.”
Producer Schneider is credited in “Quiet on Set” for helping catapult Nickelodeon into another stratosphere of success as the creator of hits like “All That,” “The Amanda Show,” “Drake & Josh,” “Zoey 101,” “iCarly” and “Victorious.” Schneider, with whom the network severed ties in 2018, is accused throughout the doc of having discriminated against female employees and of including sexually coded content throughout multiple series with a target demographic of underage viewers.
“All that negativity started happening outside of, like, our tenure there,” continued Thompson, who also starred in the Schneider-penned “Good Burger.”
“So I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it. But my heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized or their families, you know what I mean? 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,” said Thompson. “But it’s definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place. And I have fond memories of my co-stars and stuff like that. So to hear that they’ve gone through terrible things like that, it’s just, it’s really tough.”
In response to Nickelodeon’s comment on the doc that they investigate all allegations, Thompson said: “Well, investigate more!”
“It’s supposed to be a safe space. It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids. And to hear all about that is like, ‘how dare you?’”
Thompson also noted to “Tamron Hall” that he last spoke to former “All That” co-star Amanda Bynes, who was discovered by Schneider, around the time of her 2006 film “She’s the Man.”
“I’m just rooting for her from afar,” said Thompson.
The 37-year-old face of the “Amanda Show,” whose mental health struggles resulted in multiple psychiatric and a years-long conservatorship, reportedly turned down the opportunity to take part in the explosive doc.
Drake Bell, best known for starring in “Drake & Josh,” opens up in the series about the sexual abuse he endured as a teen at the hands of convicted sexual offender, Brian Peck (unrelated to the show’s other star, Josh Peck). Prior to his 2004 conviction, the dialogue coach worked at Nickelodeon and occasionally made cameos on “All That” as “Pickle Boy.”
