Ariana Grande has opened up about the hit Nickelodeon show, Victorious, following the bombshell documentary, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
In March, Investigation Discovery launched a four-part documentary series that unearthed the disturbing working conditions of both child actors and adult staff on Nickelodeon.
The series alleged that the network's producer Dan Schneider as well as other prominent figures who worked there created a toxic working environment that was brimming with sexism and racism.
The biggest revelation came from Drake & Josh alum Drake Bell, who spoke out for the first time about the alleged sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of actor and since-convicted sex offender Brian Peck.
During a recent interview on actor Penn Badgley’s podcast, Podcrushed, the 30-year-old '7 Rings' singer spoke about her time on Victorious, created and helmed by Schneider and which aired between 2010 and 2013 for four series.
The Grammy-winning pop star was just 14 years old when she was cast to play the energetic redhead, Cat Valentine.
“We got cast and it was the best news we could hear,” she recalled. “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.”
Watch Grande speak about abuse in the industry below:Grande spoke about her current complex relationship with the children’s TV show, referring to its many disturbing "sexualized" scenes like how she was filmed "juicing a potato" by moving her hands over a brown potato, sucking her toes, and pouring water over her chest and head while laying upside down.
The star said that at the time, she and her fellow actors were convinced that the "cool thing" about their series was that they "pushed the envelope with our humor".
“And the innuendos were… it was, like, the cool differentiation. And I don’t know, I think it just all happened so quickly, and now looking back on some of the clips, I’m like, ‘Damn, really? Oh, s**t,'" she said.
"And the things that weren’t approved for the network were snuck onto, like, our website or whatever... I guess I’m upset, yeah,” she added.
Despite not directly mentioning the documentary, Grande shared her thoughts about the stories of abuse in the Hollywood industry, referring to former child actors as “survivors”.
“I think the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists," she said. “I think parents should allowed to be wherever they want to be, and I think not only on kids’ sets."
The Grammy-winning singer added: "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.”
Following the documentary, Schneider broke his silence in a 19-minute video with iCarly’s T-Bo actor BooG!E.
The 58-year-old said that watching the docuseries was "very difficult" as he faced his "past behaviors – some of which are embarrassing and that I regret," and acknowledged that he "definitely owes some people a pretty strong apology. I hate that anybody worked for me and didn’t have a good time."
The former producer also claimed that he never hired Peck, who was convicted of sexually assaulting Bell in 2004, adding: "When Drake and I talked and he told me about what happened, I was more devastated by that than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far."
Last month, Schneider filed a defamation legal case against the producers of a TV documentary series, claiming it has "falsely implied that I was involved in or facilitated horrific crimes for which actual child predators have been prosecuted and convicted".
