Ariana Grande admits she’s 'reprocessing' time on Nickelodeon amid 'devastating' allegations

Addressing her feelings about the recent allegations made in Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries, Ariana Grande is reflecting on her time at Nickelodeon, admitting she’s now “reprocessing” her experience working on two of the networks hit shows at such a young age.

LISTEN NOW: Podcrushed - Ariana Grande (Part 1)

In Part 1 of the Podcrushed podcast episode, co-hosted by Penn Badgley , who recently starred in her “The Boy Is Mine” music video, Grande recalled her time starring on Victorious and Sam & Cat , both of which were created by Dan Schneider , who was a key subject in Quiet on Set .

“I was 14 and I flew out to audition with Liz Gillies for Victorious , and we were all very excited and we got cast and it was the best news we could hear,” Grande said. “We were young performers who just wanted to do this with our lives more than anything, and we got to and that was so beautiful. I think 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 went on to note that amid the recent revelations and allegations, she’s been actively reflecting on the time she spent on both shows and her “relationship to it has and is currently and has been changing,” as she’s “reprocessing a lot of what the experience was like.”

In the Quiet on Set docuseries, former actors, writers, and crew members from series produced by Schneider including All That, The Amanda Show, and Zoey 101 alleged toxic work environments, sexual abuse, harassment, and racial discrimination.

Though Grande didn’t call out the docuseries or Schneider by name, she didn’t really have to. And while she’s currently reprocessing her thoughts and feelings about her personal experiences, her current and unwavering stance on the matter, is that a working environment “needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting” and “there should be therapists” for young performers to have access to.

“I think parents should allowed to be wherever they want to be, and I think not only on kids’ sets," she says. "I think 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.”

“A lot of people don’t have the support that they need to get through performing at that level at such a young age but also dealing with some of the things that the survivors have come forward [about] … there’s not a word for how devastating that is to hear about,” she added. “I think the environment just needs to be made a lot safer all around, and like I said, I’m still in real time reprocessing my relationship to it.”

For Part 1 of Ariana’s Podcrushed episode, listen above, watch below. Part 2 drops June 17.