Nickelodeon can’t seem to catch a break from making negative headlines since the release of Jennette McCurdy’s explosive tell-all, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” last week. The former “iCarly” star opened up about the alleged inappropriate things that occurred while she was working at the company, such as being groped by “The Creator,” who also encouraged her to drink alcohol on set, and contributed to her former battle with an eating disorder.
The serious allegations have led fans to revisit clips from a string of Nickelodeon shows where they believed its stars appeared to be getting exploited, including McCurdy’s former co-star Ariana Grande, whom she worked with on the show “Sam & Cat.” One social media user had shared a video lifted from the now-defunct site TheSlap.com, where Nickelodeon characters posted exclusive content that was often used in episodes to transition between scenes. A then-16-year-old Grande is seen in a segment titled “Cat’s Random Thoughts” written and directed by the show’s “creator” Dan Schneider, where she’s recording self-tapes in her bedroom.
“The Creator” is Dan Schneider.@jennettemccurdy is a brave woman.
Here is Dan Schneider sexualizing Ariana Grande while at Nickelodeon .pic.twitter.com/iby1sCtCSh https://t.co/ZMDqnxhEJc
— Dalton (@DaltonReport) August 5, 2022
The “7 Rings” singer engages in a series of bizarre acts, such as sticking a finger down her throat, and attempting to put her toe in her mouth, while another scene shows her trying to “juice a potato,” before pouring water on herself as she laid upside down, screaming, “I’m soaking wet!”
“Everyone keeps bringing Ariana Grande for stan drama against Jennette and I don’t know why,” one fan wrote on Twitter in response to the video clip. “Let’s not forget, Ariana is a victim herself from the creepiness of Dan Schneider. This is why she doesn’t talk about the role of Cat Valentine anymore. They sexualized and infantilized her. This is disgusting.”
Since leaving Nickelodeon to focus her full attention on her music career, Grande has rarely spoken out about her time with the firm, which some people seem to believe has a lot to do with things that were said to have been going on behind the scenes. In her book, McCurdy revealed how Grande was favored by executives which allowed her to miss days of work while she had to turn down multiple movie gigs, which made the actress feel “forever pissed” at her co-star.
Nickelodeon has been accused of “sexualising“ a young Ariana Grande during her time on Victorious following claims by Jennett
— Latest Entertainment News! And Reactions! (@entenkwkm) August 16, 2022
“I booked two features during ‘iCarly’ that I had to turn down because the ‘iCarly’ team wouldn’t write me out of episodes to go shoot them,” she said of the TV execs. Meanwhile, Grande was written out of episodes where she would instead appear in a box so that she could commit to other work commitments outside of the show.
“Are you. Kidding me,” McCurdy recalled thinking to herself. “So I have to turn down movies while Ariana’s off whistle-toning at the Billboard Music Awards? F–k. This. I’m pissed about it. I’m pissed at her. Jealous of her. For a few reasons. So now, every time she misses work it feels like a personal attack. … From that moment on I didn’t like her. I couldn’t like her.”