Former Nickelodeon star Kenna Thompson is speaking out about Investigation Discovery’s four-part docuseries titled Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. The show gained widespread attention for exposing the dark secrets of Nickelodeon and its powerful figures at the time. The show reveals the horrifying truth of what happened behind the scenes, including allegations of toxic work environments, harassment, and more.
Kenan Thompson Addresses Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV
The internet was shocked by the revelations in the Discovery documentaries, which included in-depth interviews with former Nickelodeon child stars. They recounted the toxic work environment while working under Dan Schneider, who was at the time the Bossman of the network and produced almost all the major shows the channel hosted.
Allegations of s-xism, racism, and verbal abuse were raised by the famous stars who were involved with the network for most of their childhood.
Kenan Thompson, who was a prominent figure on Nickelodeon with shows like Kenan & Kel and All That up until the early 2000s, expressed solidarity with those who endured such difficult times during their tenure with the network. During an appearance on the Tamron Hall Show, he openly shared his support. He said,
“You know what I’m saying? Because all these things happened after I left, basically, and Dan [Schneider] wasn’t really on Kenan & Kel like that. I mean, he got a ‘created by’ credit, but it was a different showrunner. So our worlds weren’t really overlapping outside of all that, necessarily. And then all that negativity kind of started happening outside of our tenure there.”
He further continued,
“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 mean I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and it’s putting things on display that need to be, you know, stories that need to be told for this, accountability sake. 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.”
Despite not personally witnessing the darker side of Nickelodeon, the SNL star expressed remorse and a desire to shine a light on these stories, aiming to prevent such mistakes from recurring in the future.
Drake Bell’s Shocking Revelations on Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV
Drake Bell confessed for the first time that he was the young victim in the child s-xual abuse case that led to Brian Peck’s imprisonment back in 2004. For context, Peck was arrested by the LAPD on August 19, 2003, facing 11 charges, including lewd acts with a minor, following reports from the child’s family about six months of abuse. Peck served 16 months in prison and was then required to register as a s-x offender.
After such a significant revelation, the star also shared his experience with The Sarah Fraser Show, stating,
“There’s a very well-tailored response saying, ‘Learning about his trauma,’ because they couldn’t say that they didn’t know about this or what had happened, or anything,-So I think that was a really well-tailored response by probably some big attorney in Hollywood.”
He further stated,
“I find it pretty empty, their responses, because, I mean, they still show our shows, they still put our shows on,–And I have to pay for my own therapy, I have to figure out what — I mean if there was anything, if there was any truth behind them actually caring, there would be something more than quotes on a page by obviously a legal representative telling them exactly how to tailor a response.”
Bell is glad he decided to speak out on the matter on his terms and has received much support, along with other stars, who came forward.
