The Kids Aren’t Alright: Child Exploitation on Set

by Erin Muñoz

Content Warning: This article contains discussion around child abuse, sexual assault, and exploitation. Please read at your discretion. 

For generations, children have sat in front of their televisions and watched hours of hit Nickelodeon shows such as All That, Drake & Josh, iCarly, Victorious, and the like. To this day, many fans still catch themselves humming the catchy Nickelodeon jingle and the theme songs to their favorite childhood shows. So when the news came out that the sets behind the shows that brought people so much joy as children weren’t such happy places to work on, you can imagine how they reacted. 

What Happened?

Quiet on Set allowed actors, writers, and family members to share their stories and give viewers a glimpse into “the toxic world behind 90s and 2000s kids’ TV.” This docuseries discusses what was happening on the sets of Dan Schneider’s hit shows. The docuseries tells all, from Schnieder inserting inappropriate and sexual jokes into children’s shows to sexually harassing women in the writer’s room to creating a toxic and abusive work environment.

While many of these issues had been discussed back in 2018 when Schneider separated from Nickelodeon, the docuseries allowed viewers to hear firsthand the things people experienced and witnessed on his sets. Former Nickelodeon stars discuss being uncomfortable with the situations they were put in, from having sugar poured down their throats in sketches to being covered in peanut butter and licked by dogs. They describe feeling unable to express their discomfort out of fear of losing their jobs.

Arguably, the most shocking news was that three predators- Jason Handy, Ezel Channel, and Brian Peck- were on set and able to be alone with the child actors. The second episode of the series discusses the first two, with more of a focus on production assistant, John Handy. MJ, a mother to one of Handy’s victims, shared her daughter, Brandi’s story. Handy befriended Brandi on set and would exchange emails often. The friendship ended after Handy sent an explicit image to Brandi via email, leading to her mom removing her from the show. In 2004, he pleaded no contest to lewd acts on a child and distribution of sexually explicit material, after being arrested for assaulting a young girl he met on another Nickelodeon set. 

That same year Brian Peck, a dialogue coach, was charged with 11 counts of abuse and convicted for engaging in lewd acts with a minor and of oral copulation with a minor. At the time, the minor's identity was kept private, but in the third episode of the docuseries, Drake Bell (The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh) came forward to tell his story for the first time. The actor and his father, Joe Bell, share how Peck inserted himself into Drake’s life, abused him over a six month period when he was roughly 15 years old, and the lasting trauma the abuse left behind. When asked to describe the abuse, Drake says, “think of the worse stuff someone can do to somebody as a sexual assault– that’ll answer your question.” 

Hollywood’s History of Child Exploitation 

Child exploitation on set isn’t anything new. Not only has Dan Schneider’s behavior and the atmosphere on his sets come up in the past with accusations from Jenette McCurdy (iCarly), Alexa Nikolas (Zoey 101), Angelique Bates (All That), and The Amanda Show writer Jenny Kilgen, but child actors being mistreated is a practice almost as old as Hollywood itself.

In her 1988 book, Child Star: An Autobiography, Shirley Temple writes that if any children misbehaved on set, they would get locked in a windowless booth called the “punishment box” and would be forced to sit on a block of ice. Temple also details Metro-Golwyn-Mayer (MGM) producer Arthur Freed exposing himself to her when she was 12 years old and producer David O. Selznik attempting to sexually assault her when she was 17.  

Judy Garland was put on diet pills when she was 12 years old by MGM producer Louis B. Mayer. She was later put on a strict diet of chicken soup and coffee. As another method to keep her weight down, Garland was forced to smoke 80 cigarettes a day. MGM also had Garland take amphetamines to help her work long hours and barbiturates to go to sleep. She struggled with drug addiction until the day she died. In her memoir Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, Garland also claims she was sexually harassed by Mayer and others at MGM.

Similar patterns can be observed from former Nickelodeon stars. In the first episode of the docuseries, Katrina Johnson shares that she was fat-shamed by the producers of All That and told that the show already had a fat girl. Jenette McCurdy also dealt with body shaming as a child actor –although it was primarily from her mother– and struggled with various eating disorders the majority of the time she played Sam Puckett on iCarly and Sam & Cat.

There are also a multitude of actors who struggled with substance abuse following their time at Nickelodeon, some of which include Amanda Bynes (All That, The Amanda Show), Kel Mitchell (All That, Kenan & Kel, Good Burger, Game Shakers), and Drake Bell.

The Aftermath

Following the release of the Quiet on Set docuseries, the internet has been set ablaze with a newfound passion and fury for the positions child actors were put in on Nickelodeon's sets. Nearly every day since the docuseries’ release, a new celebrity has come out to react to the news of what happened on those sets, express their support for the people affected, and share their experiences.

Stars like Kenan Thompson (All That, Kenan & Kel), Melissa Joan Hart (Clarissa Explains It All), and Josh Peck (Drake & Josh) have extended their support for their former castmates and Nickelodeon stars. Others, like Matthew Underwood (Zoey 101) and Allie DiMeco (The Naked Brothers Band), have spoken out about their own experiences as child actors. 

The docuseries has led many people to reevaluate the way they once viewed their favorite shows. There has been a surge of videos from Dan Schneider's YouTube channel resurfacing, with viewers analyzing his interactions with cast members in a new light. Many fans have gone to TikTok to discuss the behind-the-scenes videos on Schneider’s channel and call out the sexual jokes that were filmed primarily by children for children.  

The Call for Action 

With the knowledge that registered sex offenders like Ezel Channel and Brian Peck-who was able to work on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody following his trial in 2004- were able to work on sets with children, it’s clear that regulations need to be put in place to keep child actors safe. 

Former actors and fans alike are calling for networks like Nickelodeon and Disney Channel to take steps to prevent this from happening again. While many states have child entertainment laws, it can be difficult to enforce. Unfortunately, there is nothing protecting the job of the actor or studio teacher should they speak out about misconduct on set, often leading instances of abuse and misconduct to go unreported. 

Currently, California has laws that limit the hours a child can work in a day, require permits, ensure actors have meal and rest breaks, require set time for schooling, and call for a parent to be within sightline of their child on set. There are also laws in California dedicated to protecting children’s earnings and screening people who work with children. These guidelines count on the moral integrity of the studios to enforce them, which, as a Deadline article from 2018 suggests, is not happening. 

Many former actors are calling for new laws and policies to be put in place to protect kids. They are advocating for laws that bar the use of nondisclosure agreements in instances of sexual harassment, require a mental health professional to be on set and enforce background checks to be done. 

Quiet on Set brought a huge issue to the attention of the media, and it’s vital to fight for the protection of children on sets to ensure these issues don’t continue.