Kenan Thompson is addressing MAX’s recent controversial docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. Of course, the veteran SNL star cut his teeth in the ’90s on the Nickelodeon sketch show, All That.
In Wednesday’s Tamron Hall Show, Thompson discussed the series that provides a troubling insight into the beloved children’s shows from the late 1990s and early 2000s.
“It’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I’ve never witnessed,” he admitted. He mentioned that most of the allegations arose after his time at Nickelodeon, and his interactions with producer Dan Schneider were few and far between.
“Because all these things happened after I left, basically, and Dan wasn’t really on Kenan and Kel like that,” Thompson detailed. “I mean, he got a ‘created by’ credit but it was a different showrunner, so our worlds weren’t overly overlapping like that outside of All That necessarily.”
“So I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it, but my heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized or their families,” he added.
Kenan Thompson Feels the Docuseries is ‘A Good Thing’
The Good Burger star highlighted the significance of the docuseries for the survivors of the alleged abuse.
“I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and is putting things on display that need to be — stories that need to be told for accountability sake but it’s definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place,” he explained.
“And I have fond memories of my costars and stuff like that. To hear that they’ve gone through terrible things like that, it’s just, it’s really tough,” Thompson noted.
Tamron Hall then detailed her show’s efforts to get Schneider to give a response to Quiet on Set. “We did reach out to Dan Schneider’s team. They directed us to a response that he posted on YouTube,” she explained.
“We also reached out, of course, to the production company. They said that they investigate all of these things, investigate all of the allegations.”
“Well, investigate more!”, Thompson interjected. “I mean because it’s like, it’s supposed to be a safe place you know? It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids. To hear all about that it’s just like, ‘How dare you?’”
Schneider recently addressed the series in a 20-minute YouTube video alongside BooG!e, known for playing T-Bo on iCarly, last week. “Facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret,” Schneider said in the video. “I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.”