Keke Palmer has shared her experiences of working as a child actor on Nickelodeon, explaining that the atmosphere on former producer Dan Schneider’s sets felt “very weird, very cultish.” Speaking on her podcast, Baby, This Is Keke Palmer, Palmer spoke with her mother, Sharon, who also appeared as a guest on the episode. Palmer’s mother said that other mothers of child actors had encouraged her to watch the shows. Keke then asked her mother to share her thoughts on the situation, to which Sharon replied: “The whole conversation was: ‘Oh my God! What’s happening next? Did you hear they’re going to cancel this show? What’s coming next?’ It was always so frantic about what was being cancelled.”
Nickelodeon has faced accusations over the conduct of some of its producers, including Schneider. A documentary series was aired that claimed he presided over a culture of abuse on the sets of his shows. In response to the documentary, Schneider released an apology video, saying that it was “very difficult” as he faced his “past behaviours, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret” and admitted that he owes some people an “apology”.
Bell, a former Drake and Josh star, also used the documentary to speak out about his past experiences of sexual abuse at the hands of dialogue coach Brian Peck. Schneider later claimed that the documentary falsely implied that he had sexually abused child actors on the shows. The former Nickelodeon showrunner is now suing the documentary makers for misleading viewers into thinking he was a child predator to get better audience ratings.
Keke’s mother, Sharon, highlighted the way that child actors and their parents were treated back then, saying that she ‘always looked at you being at Nickelodeon as just a stopping station. You didn’t get your start on Nickelodeon or Disney. You were blessed and fortunate enough to work, and to work in adult situations and kid situations. My mentality about the entertainment business wasn’t that Disney Channel or Nickelodeon was the end all to be all, but a lot of the parents did.” With her comments, Sharon reinforces the beliefs of many in the industry that the job of a child actor can be extremely difficult for both the child and their parent
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