Kenan Thompson Says Nickelodeon Needs to Investigate Abuse Allegations Captured in ‘Quiet on Set’: ‘How Dare You?’

Samantha Bergeson
·3 min read
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Kenan Thompson isn’t staying quiet about what he experienced on the Nickelodeon sets.

The longtime “SNL” star, who was a child actor on sketch series “All That” and “Kenan & Kel,” addressed the explosive docuseries “Quiet on Set” that detailed abuse claims from top executives at the network. During an appearance on “The Tamron Hall Show” in the below video, Thompson called coming to terms with the allegations “a tough subject,” especially as he was on the cusp of the era of the Nickelodeon stars in question.

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“It’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I never witnessed, you know what I’m saying? Because all these things happened after I left, basically,” Thompson said. “My heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized, or their families. I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and it’s putting things on display, 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, and I have fond memories of my co-stars and stuff like that. So to hear that they’ve gone through terrible things like that is really tough.”

Thompson maintained that he “wasn’t really aware of a lot of” the toxic workplace allegations aimed at show creator Dan Schneider, who later exited Nickelodeon in 2018. The “Quiet on Set” docuseries, which will have a new bonus episode on ID, additionally brought allegations that “The Amanda Show” vocal coach Brian Peck sexually abused “Drake & Josh” star Drake Bell for years. Peck was later convicted on sexual abuse charges in 2004 and sentenced to 16 months in prison.

“Investigate more,” Thompson said of how Nickelodeon is handling the exposé. “It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids. And to hear all about that is just like, How dare you?”

Former Nickelodeon showrunner Schneider issued an apology video that mentioned Thompson.

“Diversity has always been very important to me in my shows,” Schneider said. “If you go back to the very first Nickelodeon show I ever made, that’s very evident, as it is in the second one, and then the first movie I ever made for Nickelodeon, which starred Kenan and Kel. And every show I did after that had a lead Black actor in it. I’m very proud of that. It’s very important to me. And not only am I proud that they were in my shows, I’m exceptionally proud of the achievements they’ve had beyond my shows. They’ve gone on to bigger and better things, and that gives me a great sense of pride.”

During “The Tamron Hall Show,” Thompson seemingly responded to Schneider’s statements, clarifying just how much they overlapped on sets especially during the swirls of rumors surrounding Schneider’s allegedly leering behavior towards underage female tween stars.

“Dan wasn’t really on ‘Kenan & Kel’ like that,” Thompson said. “I mean, he got a ‘created by’ credit, but it was a different showrunner, so our worlds weren’t really overly overlapping like that, outside of ‘All That,’ necessarily. And then all of that negativity kind of started happening outside of our tenure there, you know what I mean? So I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it.”

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