Ariana Grande Shares Troubling Experiences Working For Nickelodeon (2024)

The docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV has caused outrage and sorrow as it revealed the horrible abuse several child actors suffered working for Nickelodeon. As fans process what some of their favorite actors went through, they began to wonder what about those who didn't appear in the documentary.

As readers probably know, Ariana Grande was the star of Victorious before becoming the famous pop star she is now, and fans worried about what her experience with Nickelodeon was like. The singer recently opened up about it, and revealed that there were many inappropriate situations she only now realizes were wrong.

Ariana Grande Is 'Reprocessing' Her Time On Nickelodeon

Ariana Grande was recently invited to Penn Badgley's podcast, PODCRUSHED, and she opened up about her time in Nickelodeon. The two of them seem to have become friends ever since the actor starred in Ariana's music video (though fans seem to have mixed feelings about it), so it makes sense that she would open up about such a delicate topic with someone she trusts.

The pop star started her career as a teenage actress in Nickelodeon, and with a lot of horrifying stories coming out about the child actors' experiences working for the network, fans wondered what Ariana Grande had gone through. While she thankfully didn't reference any form of abuse, unlike Drake Bell and other actors, who shared their stories in the docuseries Quiet on Set, she says she now realizes a lot of things weren't acceptable.

"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," she explained. However, she's now "reprocessing" those memories, and realizing some of them were deeply troubling.

"Specifically about our show [Victorious], 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 continued. "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, s**t'... And the things that weren’t approved for the network were snuck onto, like, our website or whatever."

"I guess I’m upset, yeah."

Ariana Grande Demands Protection For Child Actors

While she didn't address Quiet on Set in detail, Ariana Grande said that she was devastated to hear the stories the child abuse "survivors" shared, and called for child actors to be better protected.

"I think the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists," she suggested. She also mentioned that parents should be more involved, and that companies should allow them to be.

"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."

Ariana Grande continues to support her former Nickelodeon colleagues as they navigate their trauma, and thankfully, her calls for change in the industry will be listened to.