Kenan Thompson spoke about his time as a child star at Nickelodeon and the new perspective he gained after the release of “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” a new docu-series exposing child abuse allegations. Crew members in the network.
Thompson’s comments came Wednesday during an interview on the daytime talk show “Tamron Hall,” where he touched on his new production banner AFA, his record-breaking tenure on “Saturday Night Live” and his new memoir “When I Was Your Age.”
Thompson started out as a child actor, though he was an original cast member on the teen sketch show “All That” and starred alongside counterpart Kel Mitchell in the sitcom “Kenan & Kel” and the feature film “Good Burger,” all of which were produced by Nickelodeon. During the interview with Hall, Thompson confirmed that he had not watched the movie “Quiet on Set,” which includes allegations of abuse from “All That” producer and “Good Burger” writer Dan Schneider, who has produced and created several Nickelodeon sitcoms.
“It’s a tough topic. It’s tough for me because I can’t talk about things I haven’t seen before. All of this stuff happened after I left, basically. Dan (Schneider) wasn’t on ‘Kenan & Kel’ like that.” He got a ‘Created By’ credit, but he was a different showrunner,” Thompson said. “All that kind of negativity started happening outside of our tenure (at Nickelodeon). I didn’t really know much about it, but my heart goes out to anyone who has been a victim, or their families.
“It’s good for the doc to come out and show the things that need to be, the stories that need to be told for accountability. But it’s definitely hard to watch because I have fond memories of that place,” Thompson continued. “I have fond memories of my co-stars. To hear that they went through terrible things like that, it’s really hard.
When Hall continued to say that the talk show had reached out to Nickelodeon and that the network had stated that it was investigating all of the allegations, Thompson interrupted: “Well, investigate further. It’s supposed to be a safe space. It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids. So hearing all It’s like: “How dare you.”
Discovery’s investigative film “Quiet on Set” details the alleged treatment of child actors during filming, particularly on Nickelodeon shows in the 1990s and early 2000s. The series recently announced a fifth episode, which will feature interviews with The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh star Drake Bell, All That cast members Giovonni Samuels, Brianne Hearn, and Hearn’s mother, Tracy Brown, as well as new characters. Interviewee, All That cast member Shane Lyons.