Ariana Grande breaks silence on Quiet On Set docuseries (2024)

Ariana Grande has finally broken her silence on the Quiet On Set docuseries whichdivulged many allegations of inappropriate conduct on Nickelodeon shows.

The singer andformer child star, 30, was at the center of the series which explored disturbing scenes that 'sexualized' child stars - including Sam & Cat and Victorious actress Grande, who was filmed sticking her hand down her throat, putting her toes in her mouth, and talking about being 'soaking wet' at the age of 16.

Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV has levied several allegations against dialogue coach and convicted sex offender Brian Peck and Nickelodeon show creator Dan Schneider - who worked with Grande - leaving the television industry shaken.

Appearing on Penn Badgley's podcast Podcrushed, the star - who had been slammed online for not previously speaking out, said: 'A lot of people don’t have the support that they need to get through performing at that level at such a young age, but also dealing with some of the things that the survivors who have come forward…there's not a word for how devastating that is to hear.

'I think that the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists, I think there should be parents allowed to be wherever they want to be.

She added that parents should be permitted everywhere, 'not only on kids sets.'

'I think if anyone wants to do this or music or anything at any level of exposure that it means to be on TV or to do music with a major label or whatever, [it] should be in the contract.'

Grande said young stars are hyper-focused on reactions to their performances from from adults on set which 'create a strange pattern that occurs where it’s really taking advantage of how much it means to the young performer to get a laugh from Video Village.'

'You’re like, "Oh s***, I’m doing something great. Like, this is funny, this is good. ”

She said she and castmates including Victoria Justice, Daniella Monet and Leon Thomas 'pushed the envelope with [their] humor.”

'And the innuendos were like, we were told and convinced as well that it was the cool differentiation. And I don’t know, I think it all just happened so quickly and now looking back on some of the clips I’m like, ‘That’s… damn, really?’

'The things that weren’t approved for the network were snuck on to like our website or whatever it was, and that is another discovery. But I’m going into it…I guess I’m upset.'

A source close to the singer added to People: 'While Ariana’s personal experience as a child actor was not the same as those who have spoken out, the issues recently raised have allowed her to have a look back at her time as a young professional through an adult lens with a new and different perspective.”

“As said on the podcast, Ariana is devastated by the stories from survivors who have come forward and supports and urges more conversations to happen around how to protect young professionals in the industry.'

The documentary had also explained that Nickelodeon had raised eyebrows under Schneider's leadership with some of its shows that were 'full of uncomfortable sketches.'

'It was clear that there was a permissibility around these sexualized jokes with children,' commentators in the documentary shared.

Responding to the criticism, Schneider said: 'All these jokes that you're speaking of... every one of those jokes was written for a kid audience because kids thought they were funny - and only funny.

'Now we have some adults looking back at them 20 years later through their lens and they're looking at them and they're saying "oh you know I don't think that's appropriate for for a kid show."

'I have no problem with that if that's how anyone feels then let's cut those jokes out of the show.

'I want my shows to be popular... so if there's anything in a show that needs to be cut because it's upsetting somebody let's cut it.

'The last thing I want to ever do is put any content in a show that's going to upset my audience and make them want to turn off the TV. Why would I ever want to do that? That makes no sense.'

In recent months, a resurfaced clip being circulated online shows Schneider in a hot tub with an underage Amanda Bynes during a Nickelodeon sketch.

The scene in question - which is understood to have been filmed in 2002, when Bynes was around the age of 16 - shows Schneider sitting next to a bikini-clad Bynes for the skit, which he wrote himself, with commentators branding it as 'very uncomfortable.'

But Schneider, who is 20 years Bynes' senior, defended his friendship with the child star and said he had only been trying to help her 'regardless of what some people may think.'

Schneider was quick to distance himself from the predators and stated that he had not been responsible for hiring Peck.

Drake & Josh star Bell, 37,identified himself as the minor who dialogue coach Peck molested, on the Investigation Discovery series.

Registered sex offender Peck, 63, served 16 months in prison in 2004-2005 after being arrested on 11 charges — including sodomy, lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older, and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance.

Schneider said: 'When Drake and I talked and he told me what had happened I was more devastated by that than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far.

Last month it emerged Schneider is suing the producers of Quiet On Set for defamation - claiming the harrowing docuseries falsely portrayed him as a child sex abuser.

Schneider, 58,was previously sued over accusations of gender discrimination, hostile work environment and harassment.

Schneider's lawsuit obtained by DailyMail.com takes aim at the series as well as creators, Warner Bros. Discovery, Maxine Productions, Sony Pictures Television and others for falsely implying he sexually abused child actors who worked on his shows.

Attorneys for the star claim the docuseries was a 'hit job' against him and says the defendants did the show for 'clickbait, ratings, and views - or simply put, money.'

Schneider, who began working at the network in 1993, launched the careers of child actors who became major stars including Miranda Cosgrove, Jamie Lynn Spears and Grande.