Kenan Thompson is speaking out about Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV!
During an appearance on the Tamron Hall Show on Wednesday, the All That alum opened up about his thoughts on the docuseries, which highlighted some of the disturbing things that went on behind the scenes of Dan Schneider‘s era at Nickelodeon. And while the actor has not watched the docuseries, he certainly felt sorry for all those impacted.
Kenan began by pointing out that he had a different experience at the channel than his former co-stars, noting:
“It’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I’ve never witnessed. Because all these things happened after I left, basically, and Dan wasn’t really on Kenan and Kel like that. I mean, he got a ‘created by’ credit but it was a different showrunner, so our worlds weren’t overly overlapping like that outside of All That necessarily. And then all that negativity kinda started happening outside of our tenure there.”
Related: Josh Peck Breaks Silence On Nickelodeon Co-Star Drake Bell’s Abuse
But just because it wasn’t his experience doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe the allegations, adding:
“So I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it, but my heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized or their families.”
The comedian went on to praise the fact a doc was put together, insisting it’s important for survivors of the alleged abuse to have a platform to speak out. Getting choked up, he continued:
“I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and is putting things on display that need to be — stories that need to be told for 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.”
Ugh. It must be so complicated to navigate his feelings alongside all these new bombshell accusations. But it’s amazing to see him be so supportive of all those speaking out nonetheless. The daytime host then pointed out that her team reached out to the controversial showrunner — and his response left a lot to be desired. She explained:
“We did reach out to Dan Schneider’s team and they directed us to a response that he posted on YouTube. We also reached out, of course, to the production company, and they said that they investigate all of these things, investigate all of the allegations.”
The 45-year-old piped up:
“Well, investigate more! I mean because it’s like, it’s supposed to be a safe place you know? It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids and to hear all about that it’s just like, ‘how dare you?’”
Amen!
So far, the kids’ channel has similarly insisted they’ve done everything in their part to foster “a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct.” They added in a statement to People:
“Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”
And yet, more and more allegations (some from recent shows!) are continuing to come out. So we stand with Kenan: investigate more! See his emotional comments on this heavy subject (below):
Thoughts? Let us know (below)!
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Tamron Hall Show/DanWrap/YouTube]
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