Nickelodeon has been accused of sexualizing and infantilizing Ariana Grande when she was a child actress.
In light of actress Jennette McCurdy’s claims that she was offered thousands of dollars to keep quiet over her time at Nickelodeon, as well as experiences she had with a man she worked with there – it has kick-started another conversation about the way the company treated its teen stars.
In her new memoir titled ‘I’m Glad My Mom Died’, the 30-year-old claims that the company offered her $300,000 to keep quiet over alleged abuse she faced.
During an excerpt published by Vanity Fair, the actress doesn’t refer to her alleged abuser by name but as ‘The Creator’. She writes that he encouraged her to drink alcohol when she was 18-years-old.
She also wrote that he massaged her shoulder in an inappropriate way:
“I want to say something, to tell him to stop, but I’m so scared of offending him.”
Grande was McCurdy’s co-star on Sam & Cat and they reportedly had a ‘strained’ relationship.
McCurdy claimed to being forced to turn down movie opportunities due to the writers refusing to write her out of episodes but Grande was allegedly allocated more freedom to encourage her flourishing music career.
In light of McCurdy’s allegations, some people online are also speculating that Grande was ‘sexualized’ on the show.
On numerous occasions the creator of the show, Dan Schneider, directed Grande to act in a suggestive and compromising way at the age of just 16, including putting a finger in her mouth, lying on a bed and pouring water over her face and chest and having a group of boys splash her with water pistols wearing just a bikini and shorts.
