People Are Absolutely Disgusted By This Video Of Ariana Grande That Resurfaced Of Her In Sexually Suggestive Scenes On Nickelodeon
Content warning: This post contains detailed discussions of child sexual assault.
The Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV documentary has fans revisiting old episodes from their childhood, and now they're realizing just how sexually suggestive and uncomfortable some of the scenes were.
The four-part series explores the dark side of children's television and uncovers some of the disturbing allegations of sexual assault, abuse, racism, inappropriate adult/child dynamics, and toxicity of some of the most popular shows from the '90s and '00s like The Amanda Show, All That, iCarly — all of which were created or produced by Dan Schneider.
One of the most shocking revelations came when Drake & Josh star Drake Bell came forward alleging he was sexually assaulted when he was 15 by actor and dialogue coach Brian Peck. Brian was convicted in 2004 of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under 16.
Ron Galella / Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images, Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images
Brian was initially charged with 11 counts including lewd act upon a child, sodomy of a person under 16, attempted sodomy of a person under 16, sexual penetration by a foreign object, four counts of oral copulation of a person under 16, oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance, sending harmful matter, and using a minor for sex acts.
The documentary also revealed that a former Nickelodeon production assistant named Jason Handy was arrested in 2003 after he was found in possession of over 1,700 images of child pornography, Ziploc bags with "tokens" from young girls including a pair of underwear, and personal journals with frightening entries.
Brandis mom recounts shocking emails Jason Handy sent to her daughter Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV premieres on Sunday, March 17 at 9/8c on ID or @streamonmax. pic.twitter.com/iiag7YwRtL
— Investigation Discovery (@DiscoveryID) March 15, 2024
In 2004, Jason pled "no contest" to lewd acts on a child, distributing sexually explicit material by email, and child sexual exploitation, which stemmed from Jason sexually assaulting a young guest star from Cousin Skeeter at her home.
Outside of the predators on set, another common theme discussed in the docuseries was the sexual innuendos hidden in the scenes and scripts of programs geared toward kids.
A spotlight was put on a few of Ariana Grande's scenes when she starred as Cat Valentine on Victorious. In the documentary, the scenes are described as "online extras that the network didn't know what to do with."
The scenes included Ariana's character sticking her foot in her mouth, which added to the rumor that Dan Schneider had a foot fetish, as well as Ariana squeezing a potato while she opens her mouth and grunts with her eyes closed.
In 2019, Skarlett Akira released a compilation video on their YouTube channel called Ariana Grande Being Sexualized on Victorious for 2 Minutes Straight, which included those two scenes and more.
Part of the video resurfaced on Twitter after Quiet on Set aired, and people were disgusted by what they saw:
Dan Schneider and everyone from Nickelodeon should be in jail because wtf is this #QuietOnSet pic.twitter.com/XQ3DNU3KLV
— Spider Cuhh??? (@SpiderCuhh) March 19, 2024
Nickelodeon / Twitter: @SpiderCuhh
He should have just made a porn company if that’s the case instead of using children to make soft core porn and cover it up as innocent children’s sketch comedy.
— N?ν?rFσяg?т??мι?? (@NeverForgetDemi) March 19, 2024
The. Fact. None. Of. The. Big. Whigs. Questioned. The. Sexualized. Content. That. Was. CONSTANTLY. Made. On. Multiple. Shows. On. A. KIDS. Television. Station. Is. What. We. All. Want. To. Know. Why. Because. WTF.
— Est. 1990 (@QueenEsther328) March 19, 2024
#QuietOnSet also highlights why it’s so dangerous for children to be financial providers for their families. These parents don’t want to admit it but when your lifestyle depends on your child being employed, it becomes easier to neglect their safety. It’s a clear conflict of…
— I appreciate you. (@DeeLaSheeArt) March 20, 2024
Ive been on this Dan Schneider thing ever since I laid eyes on the ariana grande water gun scene— that dude had more sinister grip on society and the ability to reach and control so many young minds for about a decade is truly something to beware
— sadozempicaddict (@dcdoto) March 20, 2024
the energy people are putting into blowing up amanda bynes and ariana grande's socials asking them to speak should be redirected towards the people at nickelodeon who let that shit go uncontrolled for decades
— monica (worm era) (@waystarroyhoe) March 20, 2024
Honestly Ariana Grande was really put in such compromising situations on Nickelodeon— that’s why I had to stop tuning in, because I liked her too much to continue seeing it fr
— dice ? (@miss_nightowl) March 20, 2024
Ariana was sexualized in Victorious. Actually all of them were but that water gun scene with the boys are still on top of my head even if I'm nearing Season 3. ??
— M (@DemetriasKing) April 8, 2019
between shows like spongebob where they live in “bikini bottom” or all the weird feet stuff on icarly or literally anything ariana grande did on victorious or the obvious c*mshots on zoey101, idek how nickelodeon is still running as a company tbh
— michaela (@mkfunch) March 20, 2024
This whole situation with Nickelodeon just continues to show time and time again that children’s lives are not valued #QuietOnSet we saw in real time how abused children grown up to become broken adults. Ariana grande, Amanda Bynes, Drake Bell, etc.
— D Money (@deeezkneez) March 20, 2024
Nickelodeon parted ways with Dan in 2018. Dan has since watched the docuseries and said there are definitely things that he would "do differently."
Dan's spokesperson shared a statement on Monday, which was later obtained by the Hollywood Reporter:
“Everything that happened on the shows Dan ran was carefully scrutinized by dozens of involved adults, and approved by the network. Had there been any scenes or outfits that were inappropriate in any way, they would have been flagged and blocked by this multilayered scrutiny. Remember, all stories, dialogue, costumes, and makeup were fully approved by network executives on two coasts. A standards and practices group read and ultimately approved every script, and programming executives reviewed and approved all episodes. In addition, every day on every set, there were always parents and caregivers and their friends watching filming and rehearsals.”
Nickelodeon also released a statement to BuzzFeed regarding alleged behavior on past production sets:
“Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct. 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.”
You can find more information on these allegations by watching Investigation Discovery's Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which is currently streaming on Max.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here.
If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (4.A.CHILD); service can be provided in over 140 languages.
