Ariana Grande said she's reflecting on her child stardom in a different light.
The Grammy-winning singer was asked about her time on Nickelodeon's "Victorious" during a recent episode of "Podcrushed,” a podcast on teen memories co-hosted by actor Penn Badgley and his friends, Sophie Ansari and Nava Kavelin.
“We had some very special memories and we feel so privileged to have been able to create those roles and be a part of something that was so special for a lot of young kids,” Grande said in the podcast interview, the first part of which was released on Wednesday. “I think we’re reprocessing our relationship to it a little bit now.”
The comments mark the first time she's spoken about her childhood acting career in the aftermath of the explosive docuseries "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV." The Investigation Discovery series, which aired in March, detailed the allegedly toxic environment on some of Nickelodeon hit-making producer Dan Schneider's sets.
The docuseries featured several clips of Grande during her time on Nickelodeon shows. In some, she is in seemingly sexually suggestive positions, including one depicting her squeezing a potato and moaning.
During the podcast interview, Grande did not mention Schneider or the docuseries by name. However, she said it was "devastating” to hear stories from former child actors, whom she called "survivors."
She also touched on filming some of those scenes. At the time, she said the “Victorious” cast felt they “pushed the envelope” with the show’s humor and were convinced that the innuendos in the writing were “cool.”
“Now looking back on some of the clips, I’m like, ‘Damn, really?” she said.
In a statement in March after the “Quiet on Set” docuseries first aired, a Nickelodeon spokesperson said, “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.”
Schneider previously apologized for his behavior on his Nickelodeon shows. He said any questionable content or jokes in the shows should be cut from vaulted and rerun episodes.
“Every one of those jokes was written for a kid audience because kids thought they were funny,” Schneider said. “Now we have some adults looking back at them 20 years later through their lens. I have no problem with that. Let’s cut those jokes out of the show.”
Schneider is suing the people and companies behind “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” claiming the docuseries defamed him.
Grande did not weigh in on her experience working on “Sam and Cat,” a joint spinoff of “Victorious” and Schneider’s other hit “iCarly,” which starred Grande and Jennette McCurdy.
Grande told the podcast hosts that she landed the "Victorious" gig when she was 14, after auditioning with her friend and subsequent castmate Elizabeth Gillies.
Grande said her family was supportive of her entertainment career from the beginning, noting that her mom "wasn't a stage mom" and was "very strict" and "protective."
"She never told me what I should be doing," Grande said.
But she called on the entertainment industry to support child actors more.
“I think the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists,” Grande said. “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.”
Grande is not the first Nickelodeon alum to speak about their experiences in the months after "Quiet on Set."
Victoria Justice, Grande's castmate on "Victorious," directly addressed the docuseries in an interview with Marie Claire. Justice told the magazine that her experience was mostly positive, but she did believe she was "being treated unfairly" by Schneider at times.
In 2022, before the docuseries aired, McCurdy wrote a memoir titled “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” which includes details about her negative experiences while working on “iCarly” and “Sam and Cat.”
