Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson reflected on his time working at Nickelodeon as a young actor in light of the recent allegations raised in Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
During a recent appearance on Tamron Hall, Thompson spoke out in support of his former Nickelodeon peers.
“All that negativity kind of started happening outside of our tenure [at Nickelodeon]. I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it, but my heart goes out to anyone that’s been victimized, or their families,” he told Tamron Hall yesterday (March 27), per Variety.
The SNL star got his start in the industry as an original cast member on the sketch show All That in 1994 and later starred in the sitcom Kenan & Kel from 1996 to 2000. He recently returned to the network to reunite with his co-star Kel Mitchell for a reboot of their 1997 comedy Good Burger.
Though he confirmed that he had not watched the Investigation Discovery series, Thompson appeared aware of the allegations made against creator Dan Schneider, who was accused by multiple former employees of harassment and inappropriate behavior.
“It’s a tough subject. It’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I never witnessed. All these things happened after I left, basically,” he said. “Dan wasn’t really on Kenan & Kel like that. He got a ‘Created by’ credit, but it was a different showrunner.”
He continued, “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’s sake. But it’s definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place. I have fond memories of my co-stars. To hear that they’ve gone through terrible things like that, it’s really tough.”
The documentary series raised numerous allegations about the work environment at Nickelodeon during the late ’90s and early 2000’s, when Schneider created and wrote for several children’s sitcoms on the network.
Former child actor Drake Bell also came forward in the doc for the very first time about being sexually assaulted by former Nickelodeon employee Brian Peck while working on The Amanda Show and All That.
A fifth bonus episode, entitled “Breaking The Silence,” is expected to premiere on ID and Max April 7 at 8/7c.
If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.
