Ariana Grande's "disturbing" scenes resurface amid Nickelodeon docuseries allegations

21 March 2024, 16:16

Watch the Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV trailer

By Katie Louise Smith

"Those Ariana Grande clips were weird af. What in the world."

Clips of Ariana Grande's "disturbing" scenes from Victorious and Sam & Cat have gone viral again after they were analysed in the new docuseries that details the allegations about Dan Schneider and the people who worked on his Nickelodeon shows.

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV is a four-part docuseries that includes interviews with cast and crew members from Schneider's shows (iCarly, Victorious, Zoey 101, Drake & Josh), many of whom have come forward with allegations of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate dynamics on set.

The first episode opens with people pointing out the weird, suggestive and inappropriate scenes that appear to sexualise many of the young child actors that appeared in those shows.

Ariana Grande's scenes as Cat Valentine are shown right at the start of the episode, and people are now questioning how they were ever allowed to be filmed or aired on TV.

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One of the scenes in questions shows Cat trying to squeeze juice out of a potato. She holds the potato in two hands in front of her face before making strained noises, saying: "Come on, give up the juice"

Another moment shown in the documentary sees Cat lying upside down on a bed and pouring water over herself after asking the question: "Is it possible for a teenage girl to drink water upside down?" Another shows her putting her own big toe in her mouth.

The scenes were deemed so inappropriate that Double Dare host Marc Summers, who is featured in the docuseries, even asked: "Did that air on Nickelodeon?"

These scenes are from Cat's Random Thoughts, a web-series in which Cat shared self-taped videos for her fans. All eight mini-episodes were written by Dan Schneider.

The same clips previously went viral in 2022 following comments made by Jennette McCurdy in her book, I'm Glad My Mother Died. In the book, Jennette opens up about her negative experiences on set with "The Creator". Jennette doesn't directly name him, but it's believed she's talking about Dan Schneider.

Fans have been reacting to the scenes again on social media, calling them "really bad" and "uncomfortable".

"Those Ariana Grande clips were weird af. What in the world," one user wrote.

In a statement to Variety, a representative for Dan Schneider responded to the allegations brought forward in the docuseries.

The statement reads: "Everything that happened on the shows Dan ran was carefully scrutinised by dozens of involved adults, and approved by the network. If there was an actual problem with the scenes that some people, now years later are ‘sexualising,’ they would be taken down, but they are not, they are aired constantly all over the world today still, enjoyed by both kids and parents."

"Remember, all stories, dialogue, costumes, and makeup were fully approved by network executives on two coasts," the statement continues. "A standards and practices group read and ultimately approved every script, and programming executives reviewed and approved all episodes. In addition, every day on every set, there were always parents and caregivers and their friends watching filming and rehearsals."

"Had there been any scenes or outfits that were inappropriate in any way, they would have been flagged and blocked by this multilayered scrutiny. Unfortunately, some adults project their adult minds onto kids’ shows, drawing false conclusions about them."

Ariana has not spoken about the reaction to those clips or how she felt filming them, nor has she responded to any of the allegations in the new documentary.

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