Kenan Thompson has spoken out about allegations of abuse by crew members on the sets of Nickelodeon where the Saturday Night Live star started his career as a child actor.
Thompson, 45, rose to fame on the Kenan & Kel (1996-2000) and All That (1994-2005) comedy shows on the children’s cable network in the late 1990s.
A recent docu-series, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, featured accusations of misogyny, bullying, racism, children being featured in inappropriate content, and in some cases, child sexual abuse.
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The docu-series focused much of its attention on producer Dan Schneider who created some of Nickelodeon’s most popular shows in the 2000s, including The Amanda Show, iCarly and Zoey 101.
The documentary features a writer and former actors accusing him of fostering a toxic workplace and writing content for his teen stars that could be interpreted as sexualized.
Schneider responded after the docu-series aired and said it was “very difficult” to watch.
“Me facing my past behaviors—some of which are embarrassing and that I regret—and I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology,” he said in a March 19 interview with BooG!E, the actor who played T-Bo on iCarly.
Newsweek has contacted Nickelodeon and Schneider’s representatives by email for comment.
Kenan Thompson Reacts
Many former Nickelodeon stars have reacted publicly to Quiet on Set, with Thompson speaking up about it on Wednesday’s episode of Tamron Hall’s eponymous talk show.
“It’s a tough subject because, it’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I’ve never witnessed,” Thompson told Hall.
“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.”
Thompson said he sympathized with the victims.
“I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it, but my heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized or their families. I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and it’s putting things on display that need to be—stories that need to be told for accountability sake,” he said.
“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.”
Brian Peck
One of the most explosive stories featured on Quiet On Set was the revelation that one of Nickelodeon’s biggest stars at the time, Drake Bell, was the victim of repeated sexual assault by dialect coach Brian Peck.
Bell became known for his roles on The Amanda Show and then fronted the popular Drake & Josh series.
He spoke about his experience in the docu-series, sharing that he had been groomed by the older man. Bell said he was shocked at how many people supported Peck when he faced his judgment day in court. Newsweek has contacted Bell’s representatives by email for comment.
Bell was not publicly identified as Peck’s victim in 2004 when the latter pleaded no contest to charges of oral copulation with a minor under 16 and performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old. He was sentenced to 16 months in jail and required to register as a sex offender.
Hollywood actors including James Marsden and the late Alan Thicke (of Growing Pains fame) wrote letters in support of Peck to the court prior to his sentencing.
Nickelodeon addressed Bell’s experience in a previous statement to Newsweek saying it was “dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma” Bell has endured following the abuse “and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.