Ariana Grande has finally broken her silence about the shocking “Quiet on Set” docuseries, which detailed the working conditions for several Nickelodeon child stars in the 1990s and 2000s, including the first public revelation of the sexual abuse of Drake Bell when he was just 15.
Grande, who starred on Nickelodeon’s “Victorious” from 2010–2013 and “Sam and Cat” from 2013–2014, did not participate in the docuseries, but some of her scenes from the time were shown as an example of troubling sexual innuendo producers had the young stars acting out on screen.
During an appearance on Penn Badgley’s “Podcrushed” podcast on Wednesday, the pop star admitted she’s now “reprocessing” her time on the Nickelodeon series, particularly “Sam and Cat.”
“I think we had some very special memories, and we feel so privileged to be able to create those roles and become a part of something that was so special for a lot of young kids,” the “Wicked” star said.
But now, looking back, she said she feels differently about what the young stars thought at the time was simply edgy humor.
“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,” she said.
“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**’ … and the things that weren’t approved for the network were snuck onto, like, our website or whatever.”
In some clips shown in the docuseries, Grande could be seen trying to drink from a water bottle while lying down on her back, pouring it all over herself, and in another she tried to “juice” a potato by squeezing it, and both scenes appeared designed to look like sexual acts. Some clips that were too sexual for TV were instead uploaded as web shorts online, as detailed in “Quiet on Set.”
“I guess I’m upset, yeah,” Grande, 30, said.
Although she did not mention the docuseries specifically, she said it has been “devastating” to hear other former child actors coming forward with their stories of abuse, and called them “survivors.”
“I think the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists,” she said.
“I think parents should allowed to be wherever they want to be, and 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.”
Story via TMX