Drake Bell, Josh Peck, Kenan Thompson and Alexa Nikolas are among numerous former Nickelodeon stars who spoke out following the harrowing allegations revealed in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
Investigation Discovery’s four-part docuseries outlines allegations of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior involving underage stars and crewmembers on Nickelodeon TV show sets run by Dan Schneider. Some of the programs mentioned included The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly, Victorious and Sam & Cat.
In the series, former creatives and crewmembers detailed their experiences behind the camera, claiming they endured toxic workplaces. Amanda Bynes, who was a prominent young figure on Nickelodeon in the 1990s and early 2000s, starring in The Amanda Show and All That, was also frequently mentioned throughout, although she did not participate in the docuseries.
Below, The Hollywood Reporter has compiled comments made by former Nickelodeon actors following the release of Quiet on Set.
Drake Bell
In the third episode of the docuseries, Drake & Josh star Drake Bell shared his story for the first time of alleged abuse he experienced at the hands of his former dialogue coach, Brian Peck, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a Nickelodeon child actor in 2004. At the time, the minor was referred to as John Doe in court documents.
He graphically recounted the abuse in the doc, saying, “It just got worse and worse and worse and … worse, and I was just trapped and I had no way out.” Days later, in his first interview after the ID project aired, Bell also opened up about his hesitations before doing Quiet on Set as well as Nickelodeon’s “empty” response, adding that it “was 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.”
Following the docuseries’ release, Bell shared that his Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck (who’s not related to Brian Peck) “reached out to talk with me and help me work through this and has been really, really great.”
Josh Peck
On March 22, Josh Peck broke his silence about Quiet on Set, noting that it “took a few days to process it.” He added in an Instagram post, “I reached out to Drake privately, but wanted to give my support for the survivors who were brave enough to share their stories of emotional and physical abuse on Nickelodeon sets with the world. Children should be protected. Reliving this publicly is incredibly difficult, but I hope it can bring healing for the victims and their families as well as necessary change to our industry.”
Nancy Sullivan
Nancy Sullivan, the actress who played Drake’s mother Audrey on Drake & Josh, has also shared her support for Bell. “It broke my heart into a million pieces to hear just how much Drake was holding inside while we were working together,” she wrote in part on social media. “I was both devastated and proud seeing the man he’s grown into sit down on camera and bravely tell his truth.”
Devon Werkheiser, Lindsey Shaw and Daniel Curtis Lee
After receiving backlash for a joke they seemingly made about Bell, Ned’s Declassified School Survivor’s Guide stars Devon Werkheiser, Lindsey Shaw and Daniel Curtis Lee took to their podcast to express their regrets over the joke, as well as to address the docuseries as a whole.
Werkheiser, who previously apologized to Bell on X (formerly Twitter), admitted that the trio hadn’t yet seen Quiet on Set when they made the “super shit” joke, adding, “Everyone was asking us for our opinions on it, and I get it. Now, having seen the documentary, it’s so disturbing. Now, we’ve watched it, and I get it. If I had just watched especially that third episode and then watched us joking like that … I would be like, ‘Are they sociopaths? Is something wrong with them?’”
Shaw also noted that they shouldn’t have joked about the docuseries in any capacity and been insensitive to what other people have struggled with. “I hate that this happened,” she said. “I hate that we compounded any trauma around this situation that means so much to each of us. I am sorry.”
Steve Burns
Former Blue’s Clues host Steve Burns also shared a few words on the matter, making space for his (now grown-up) fans to share how they were feeling.
“Hey, I’m checking in,” he said in a TikTok. “Tell me what’s going on.” Burns then waited for a response, staring into the camera for a minute before finishing with, “OK. Alright, well, it’s good to hear from you. You look great, by the way.”
Alexa Nikolas
Zoey 101 alum Alexa Nikolas, who was among the Nickelodeon stars to appear in Quiet on Set, has remained vocal following the docuseries’ release. She released a YouTube video reacting to Schneider’s response to the series, noting that she didn’t think he was fully taking responsibility for his harmful actions. “I’m going to cut to the chase here: You don’t feel anything, Dan. You have no idea what accountability is. You’re searching for it, maybe, but you haven’t landed on it. That’s for sure. This is not the way,” she said.
Speaking with THR, Nikolas expanded on her own alleged experiences with Schneider on the set of Zoey 101, including a situation that led to her deciding to leave the show for its third season.
Allie DiMeco
Allie DiMeco, the actress who starred in The Naked Brothers Band as Rosalina, spoke up about her own experiences since the release of the docuseries. She made a TikTok saying she was “stressed” while watching Quiet on Set, as she also went through her own trauma on the Nickelodeon series.
“There was an episode where Rosalina ‘cheated’ on Nat and kind of kissed a French guy,” she explained, adding that she “did not” want to kiss him. “He’s a 30-year-old man. I’m sorry, I couldn’t even watch it. It gives me fucking the ick, and it honestly gives me PTSD,” DiMeco said while playing an edited version of the show’s clip in question.
She added that she told the Naked Brothers Band crew “many times that I didn’t want to do it. My mom was very against it and they pretty much made me feel like I was going to lose my job, that I might be fired if I didn’t do it.”
Matt Bennett
Matt Bennett, an actor and DJ who starred in Victorious as Robbie Shapiro, shared a statement on his Instagram Story, speaking out in support of the fellow Nickelodeon stars. He mentioned that, like many of the network’s fans, he had watched Quiet on Set. As someone who was part of a hit series on the network, he said he spent his time watching the docuseries “trying to remove myself from the situation, asking, ‘If I hadn’t worked for Nickelodeon and didn’t know any of the people involved, would I be OK with the behavior and the treatment of others I’m seeing?’”
He realized that the answer was “No, I wouldn’t be ok with it and I’m not OK with it.” Bennett then noted that processing what occurred to the fellow Nickelodeon child stars is “a little too real for me right now and there are some mental pretzels” he has to work on undoing. He additionally shared that he’s dedicated to “help in any way I can to put more safeguards in place to protect young actors.”
Kenan Thompson
While appearing on The Tamron Hall Show on March 27, Kenan Thompson, who started his career on All That and then starred in his own show Kenan & Kel, also voiced his support. He said that though he did not share the same experiences as other Nickelodeon stars, he stands by their decision to speak out.
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 explained.
He added, “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.”
Chris Massey
Meanwhile, after his mother took to Instagram to defend Dan Schneider, calling him a “genius” and asking for the blame to be placed on the parents instead of the showrunner, Zoey 101 star Chris Massey released his own statement on the social media platform. He wrote, “My story will be told from me…. not from a parent, a friend, a co-worker… ME!!! and only ME… so please stop messaging me about what my mom said… respectfully.”
The first four episodes of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV are currently streaming on Max, with a fifth episode, Breaking the Silence, airing on April 7.
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