Kenan Thompson on ‘Quiet on Set’ Doc: ‘Investigate More’

Kenan Thompson expressed his support for his former Nickelodeon peers who shared their allegations of abuse and misconduct in the Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries.

The actor and comedian, who to rose fame in the Nineties following his roles on Dan Schneider-produced shows Kenan & Kel and All That, spoke on Wednesday’s episode of the Tamron Hall Show.

“It’s a tough subject because, it’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I’ve never witnessed,” Thompson said. “You know what I’m saying? Because all these things happened after I left, basically, and Dan [Schneider] wasn’t really on Kenan & Kel like that. I mean, he got a ‘created by’ credit, but it was a different showrunner. So our worlds weren’t really overlapping outside of all that, necessarily. And then all that negativity kind of started happening outside of our tenure there.”

The Saturday Night Live veteran, who became emotional during the interview, continued, “I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it, but my heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized or their families, you know what I mean? I mean I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and it’s putting things on display that need to be, you know, stories that need to be told for this, accountability sake. But it’s definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place and I have fond memories of my co-stars and stuff like that. So to hear that they’ve gone through terrible things like that, it’s just, it’s really tough.”

When Hall stated that the talk show had reached out to Nickelodeon and that production companies had launched an investigation into the allegations, Thompson replied, “Well, investigate more.” He added, “It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids. And to hear all about that is just like, ‘How dare you?’”

Other former Nickelodeon stars, including Drake Bell and Josh Peck, have also addressed the allegations revealed during Investigation Discovery’s four-part docuseries. In Quiet on Set, former child actors and Nickelodeon employees detail the unsettling experiences they had while working on Dan Schneider-affiliated shows. In the third episode, Bell alleged he was sexually abused by All That and The Amanda Show dialogue coach Brian Peck beginning when he was age 15 while he working as a child star at the network.

Earlier this month, Schneider sat down for a video interview with BooG!e, who starred as T-Bo in iCarly. In the interview, he apologized for the gender discrimination, claims that he casted actors in racially stereotyped roles, massage requests, and other allegations made by his former colleagues, in the docuseries.

“It was wrong,” Schneider said. “It was wrong that I ever put anybody in that position. It was the wrong thing to do. I’d never do it today. I’m embarrassed that I did it then. I apologize to anybody that I ever put in that situation.”