Houselights from The State News

Host Liz Nass and guests Jada Vasser and Demonte Thomas break down the stories and nuances behind the new HBO Max show, “Quiet on Set,” highlighting the abuse behind Nickelodeon. 

What is Houselights from The State News?

The State News discusses issues and the cultural impact of entertainment news including TV & film, fashion, music and more.

Liz:

Hi. Liz here before this episode of House Lights. I just want to give a little quick warning. We are gonna be talking about Quiet on Set, which is the newest, HBO Max show about the child abuse, specifically sexual abuse towards children, you know, centered television show around Nickelodeon and everything. So I just want to put a warning before then.

Liz:

We will be talking about some heavy topics. So, you know, if you can't listen to that, definitely turn this off, and we'll see you next week on House Slides. Thanks so much. Hello, and welcome back to House Lights, your one stop shop for everything you need to hear about this week in the world entertainment. As always, I'm your host, Liz Nas.

Demonte:

And Demontae Thomas.

Liz:

Oh, yeah. I'm so excited for this episode. We have been talking about this episode for, like, the last few weeks. Yeah. We have.

Liz:

And I, you know, I'm jet setting to Florida. You know, I'm I'm all over the place, so we haven't gotten to it yet. But, hope I'm I'm glad that it's not a one and done sort of topic anymore Oh, yeah. Because we thought that it might be, but then they came out with a new episode. Yeah.

Liz:

Yeah. This week, we're gonna talk about Quiet on Set Yes. Which was the documentary all about all the I don't even wanna call it a scandal because that seems like that seems like it lessens what happens to the atrocities. Yeah. The atrocities that happened.

Demonte:

At Nickelodeon.

Liz:

At Nickelodeon and, you know, sort of like focused on one face which is Dan Schneider. So the first question that I wanna ask you guys, and I'll explain a little bit about mine is your background, like, with Nickelodeon and stuff like, I was more of a Disney kid but I always love like iCarly and Victorious, like, especially Victorious, like, I was that theater kid. Right? I wanted to go to Hollywood Arts and everything, but I I didn't I wasn't a huge Nickelodeon kid, but I wanna ask Amy on this.

Demonte:

Yeah. I'd definitely

Jada:

say I was kind of a mix. I feel like my sister was made more of a Nickelodeon kid, which made me a Nickelodeon kid. Right. Shared the TV. But I definitely agree.

Jada:

I did watch more so Disney. But, yeah, I was obsessed with Victorious, iCarly, Drake and Josh. Like, those are the 3 I probably watched the most. So then when I was watching documentary, I was like, those are kind of the ones they talked about the most. And I was like, yeah.

Jada:

It'd definitely be the shows that I like the most you talk about.

Liz:

Right. Absolutely.

Jada:

But, yeah, I definitely say I was a

Liz:

Disney kid too, though. Disney Robs. I was such a Hannah Montana

Jada:

fan. Absolutely. That I loved all of it.

Liz:

I recently found a picture of me in a shirt that had Hannah Montana on it. And in the bottom, it had a box that you could push, and it would sing. Oh. A singing shirt? This is technology we've never heard of before.

Liz:

A singing shirt? That sounds like

Demonte:

technology from, like, 2006.

Liz:

No. Literally. Yeah. Literally. We're just we're gonna play around with a shirt.

Jada:

A shirt thing. Literally.

Liz:

No. Damonte, what was are you a were you a Nickelodeon kid?

Demonte:

Yes. My household. We were a Nickelodeon household.

Liz:

Mhmm.

Demonte:

My oldest brother was born in the nineties. Of course, when I was introduced to, nineties Nickelodeon to be more specific, all that can entail Keaton and Kel, the Amanda Show. I remember watching, and it's it's not like a block anymore. It was on t Nick. Mhmm.

Demonte:

The nineties are all that, but then they changed it to Splat, and Nick Splat then changed the name around. Yeah.

Jada:

They changed it a lot.

Demonte:

But, I remember just watching, like, these old shows and then being introduced, like, the, movies because we I still have, like, the robots movie.

Liz:

Oh my god. Like this. Yes.

Demonte:

Like the orange.

Liz:

The robot the orange VHS of the rubber sleeve. Oh my gosh. I love that.

Demonte:

Yes. So, I will say for certain, my household is a Nickelodeon household Yeah. Which is more of the reason why I feel the way I do out there watching this documentary or docuseries.

Liz:

So I also like, with like, background wise, like, I feel like we all knew that Dan Schneider was a creative Like, did, like, did he, like okay. Before you're watching this show, like, don't you have the the feeling that, like, there's something, like because because I guess the first thing I wanna talk about is, like, the gross jokes and stuff that they made, like About the innuendos. I don't know, like, the always the feet stuff freaked me out. Yeah. Maybe that's just me, but, like, I don't know.

Liz:

Like, I don't I don't know kids who find that stuff, like, super funny. Like, I don't know.

Jada:

Yeah. They were definitely, like, especially as I got older and the shows kept going, I could you could make the argument that they tried to grow with the audience but they did it wrong. And And even when, like, we were young watching it and they came out, yeah, I never was a fan of those scenes. Those episodes, I was just kinda like, okay. Yeah.

Jada:

And then as a child, most of it went over my head. So I was like, I don't know what that means. I'm a keep watching. But now looking back at the adult, it's like, I'm kinda glad I don't I didn't know what that means. They're like 9, 10.

Jada:

When when I started watching it because I'm like, my mom wouldn't have let me watch this if she really knew the jokes they were saying, the stuff they was actually saying on TV. You know what I'm saying? Because I grew up in a household where some stuff I wasn't allowed to watch because of those jokes that, one, I wouldn't get because I was so young. But, 2, it's not something that you should approach a child at that age anyway.

Liz:

Right.

Jada:

So for the fact that these jokes were being written in the show for this specific age group in this audience is ridiculous.

Liz:

Right. We're either one of you one of the kids that, like, couldn't watch Spongebob because their parents I was not personally, but there's always Anthony was. I there were tons of kids I knew that, like, my parents won't let me watch Spongebob. I'm like, okay, freak. Like, what do you like, what do you mean you can't love Spongebob?

Jada:

I know a few people who said they couldn't watch Spongebob. I could watch Spongebob. I couldn't watch the shows like Family Guy

Liz:

Okay. Yeah.

Jada:

King of the Hill. Right. I couldn't watch shows like that. Like, show that you have to stay up to watch and sneak and watch. South Park, here you go.

Jada:

Here you go. I couldn't watch those even though sometimes I snuck and watch. I'm sorry. Yeah. Of course.

Jada:

Because I was interested as a kid. I'm like, why can't I watch it? I know.

Demonte:

So Yeah. I think for me well, obviously, like South Park, Family Guy and whatnot. I think Ren is Stimpy, because Ren is Stimpy well, there is 2 versions of it. There's, like, the original Nickelodeon version, and then there's the, I think, the adult version that was made of, like, Spike TV or whatever. I I just couldn't watch it because there's, like, some weird stuff going on.

Demonte:

So but, going back to the topic of, like, just the Induendos or just whatever was happening in these shows Mhmm. I think the thing that stands out to me is victorious. Yeah. Specifically, like the RV episode. Like, they're stuck in RV.

Liz:

Oh, you

Jada:

mean with the heat? Yeah. I looked it up.

Demonte:

And, like, this is, like, the first image Yeah. That, like, came this is, like, this they aired this on, like, Nickelodeon. So I'm not

Jada:

sure if Is the camera getting less? If we could just We could zoom in.

Demonte:

This, like, was aired on Nickelodeon. So I'm thinking, wow.

Liz:

And I was thinking, like, I feel like they thought that they could get away with more stuff because, like, there were more shows for, like, kids, like, Spongebob and stuff like that. Mhmm. And then I think they thought, oh, because there's teens playing, you know, your teens playing teens, then that's gonna be for older kids.

Demonte:

Yeah.

Liz:

And so their defense was always, well, we're making shows for older kids, but that's not true. Yeah. Right. You stay on Nickelodeon after Spongebob is over Right. Or Backyardigans.

Liz:

Exactly. And then you watch Victorious and it's I mean, it's all getting

Demonte:

the kids.

Liz:

You know what I'm saying? Like, I was definitely young watching Victorious.

Jada:

Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

Liz:

Because it

Demonte:

came out, like, 2010.

Liz:

Yeah. So, you know

Jada:

Oh, yeah.

Demonte:

I, at the time, I didn't get like the jokes they were making. But looking back at it now, like almost every single episode, there is a feet joke in it. Right. Every single episode. If not a feet joke, there is some kind of sexual inniendo in it.

Demonte:

So there's

Liz:

yeah. Yeah. Well and and it's not even just episodes because of what I was mostly interested in when, you know, the documentary was, like, showing all the content that they have, it was those videos that they would put online Mhmm. As, like, the video vlogs to

Jada:

slap when

Liz:

they started to slap on top. And it was these weird videos of, like, Ariana Grande, like Squeezing a potato. And it's like she she was underage at the time, I believe.

Demonte:

Yeah. I

Jada:

think so. She was.

Liz:

Yeah. So it's and it's just weird because and then you see the kids that had to put up with the most Mhmm. Then got the most success.

Jada:

Yeah.

Liz:

And I just think that that's just so other than Amanda Bynes. And let's talk about it. Yeah. Because Amanda Bynes was totally

Demonte:

screwed over.

Liz:

I mean, she just totally was. Absolutely. I mean, they said that she in in the show, they were saying that she was doing the laugh factory shows at, like, 10 years

Jada:

old. Yeah.

Liz:

I mean, who who allows that to happen? Yeah. Right.

Jada:

Yeah. That's kinda where I was going at. Specifically with documentary, I was like, okay. As much as we're talking about, like, what happened to these kids, we still gotta give it to the parents too. Right.

Jada:

Because it's like like you said, at 10 years old doing these shows that were mainly at night and it was mainly adults watching her, like, okay, she may say some funny jokes but it's like, it's almost as if you're forcing her to grow up too fast to, like, expect this audience. Because, of course, at 10 years old, how could you make the jokes that you're making unless someone's coaching you like Dan was doing when she got the Amanda Bynes show or if, you know, you've had any background in it. But at 10 years old, I can't imagine any background. But Amanda Bynes' story, it's just it's just sad so sad to realize because like Damonte, I have a older sister who's 10 years older than me, a nineties baby. Yeah.

Jada:

So she grew up when the Amanda Bynes show first premiered. She watched it, like, in its entirety. And it just sucks to see how these stars end up when they kinda get pushed out of Nickelodeon. Right. And then they kinda get like, okay.

Jada:

We We don't need you anymore. We don't want you. We don't like you. Right. Go do your own thing.

Jada:

But it, like, they're so messed up. Like, the way Amanda Bynes is now, like, I'm happy I hope she's finding some peace in whatever she's doing.

Liz:

She is becoming a I follow her on TikTok.

Jada:

Okay. She's

Liz:

becoming a nail tech. You know what? You're doing your nail tech license.

Jada:

Do you because, honestly, whatever you need to do to just bring you back to

Liz:

you. And doing nails is

Jada:

what I'm sure, please. Doing nails make money, so I'm all for it.

Liz:

Yeah. Literally.

Jada:

And I'm

Liz:

all for it. She's getting her bag.

Jada:

She's getting her money,

Liz:

and that's what

Jada:

it needs to do. People need to leave her alone. Right.

Demonte:

Yeah.

Liz:

It just sucks when you like, you're talking about, like, child stars and just, like, you know, having to go through so much in their early years. It's like, obviously, if you're a child star, you have so much talent that you can, like, hone being funny at a young age. Because, like, I all kids are, like, super annoying when they're when they're when they're younger. Right? So when you find a kid that's genuinely funny, like Amanda Bynes, you're like, wow.

Liz:

That kid's gonna have so much talent. Yeah. But by the time they're out, then they're pushed out. Yeah. They're not taken seriously.

Liz:

Right. They're pushed out of the industry, and it's it's just super sad to watch. I would and me and my roommate, we've all my roommates, we watched the show together. We were talking this morning actually about how one of the only ones that have really, like, stuck to the ground and, like, done real stuff since, being a trout star is Zendaya. Like, I mean, like, okay, Bridgette Metler.

Liz:

Like, she's obviously amazing. She's, like, running this, like, space company. But she's not in acting anymore. She's not doing that. But, like, Zendaya is, like, really one of the only child stars that is, like, still in the same thing that she started and didn't go off to, like, music or whatever.

Liz:

Yeah. I mean, she had replay, which is Which is slept. Okay. Obviously. Replay with oh, just popular?

Liz:

You didn't love it? You know what I mean? It's not I love it. Spotify replay? It might be.

Jada:

It might be. It might not. Let me not. It might be bad.

Liz:

But, like, she's the only one who's really stayed in that lane of acting and

Jada:

it's, like That's very true.

Liz:

In some ways, I I don't know what the difference is between it because she's also not another thing that I think puts some child stars to, like, on a different level is if you're a Nepo baby. Nepo babies usually do a lot better being child stars because they know the, they know, like, the ropes when they go because their parents can tell them, like, this is What happened? Yeah.

Jada:

This is

Liz:

and this is the problem. But Zendaya is, like, the only non Nepo baby child star to, like, really pop off and, like, keep popping off.

Jada:

I didn't even think of that. Thinking about who actually, like, came out of child acting is actually doing what at one point they said is what they wanna do for their whole lives. Because a lot of them, even in documentary, like like we said, manna bine does nails now. But even speaking with Drake Bell's point of view, it's like, he lives in Mexico now. No.

Jada:

But he doesn't even live here no more. It's like, these things are so traumatic that it literally pushes them away from even staying in the same vicinity anymore. So it's just like and then yeah. I totally agree, like, what you said earlier. Like, we always knew these things were happening, but it's kinda funny because me and Damonte were talking about this because I mentioned it in the latest episode, episode 5, about how Nickelodeon had 2 child, molester arrests 4 months apart, but there are no news articles about it.

Jada:

Right. And the journalist asked him, he was like, well, why do you think that is? He's like, I don't know because now I walk up my house and the news media is there. So it's like, how do you have a company on the same show, have 2 child molesters, but there's nothing written about it on the same network 4 months apart? But we write report on anything else, especially being a journalist and working in a magazine.

Jada:

It's like, that's that's it. That's your story.

Liz:

How did you not

Demonte:

catch that?

Liz:

How did you not catch it? And it's not like it wasn't something that we haven't covered before. Oh, right. Exactly. Like just like, you know, child, you know, abuse in the media, like, with speculated Michael Jackson and stuff like that.

Liz:

That was being covered before Absolutely. So and, like, heavily heavily Yeah. Not even just, like, covering, like, what was I like speculating. So we're not even gonna speculate that something bigger is happening in Nickelodeon.

Demonte:

Right. Yeah.

Liz:

And honestly, because I was trying to think because, you know, I was trying to put together a whole thesis for today. I was trying to pull it all together, but I honestly don't have an answer as to why Yeah. The media wouldn't be on it. It's like, you can be in, like, I know that, like, the records were sealed because Drake Bell was a child Mhmm. At the time, but it's not like no one, like, people could've walked in the courtroom.

Liz:

Like, they're and also just, like, it's on payroll stuff. They're, like, HR, you're firing people. It's like Mhmm.

Demonte:

I think, in my own opinion, the only folks that know the true answer to that are the, the executives of Red Nickelodeon, or at least the ones that was at Nickelodeon at the time. Right. Now they could still possibly be with Nickelodeon because Brian Robbins, the current president of Nickelodeon, he co created Keeney and Nickel. That's, like, all the way back in the nineties.

Demonte:

So it falls on the executives.

Liz:

Right. The people who are dealing with us are still there.

Jada:

Mhmm. Yeah. And that's the issue because it's like, how are you still running a network that has all of this history and then nothing just happens? Even when you say about like, Michael Jackson, that's even a great example because like you said, serious investigation, going to his home, looking through his things. Did y'all even go to the studio?

Jada:

Right. Yeah.

Liz:

Did y'all go to Sunny's Young Sunset, but it's there. Yeah.

Demonte:

I know. Weekend, you'll see.

Jada:

Literally, like, did y'all even step foot in the area? Did you try to talk to any of the kids, the parents, even? Like, of course, we know Dan. He had it together. Like, he was an actor.

Jada:

He knows how to do a show. But did you even try? Like, I'm so surprised that nobody just tried to go. Right. Like, this seems like the biggest journalist they've done.

Liz:

And also the parents wouldn't come out. Yeah. Like and I, again, I I agree with your point. It it really does fall on the parents sometimes. Because they were talking about, like, oh, how inappropriate it Drake Bell.

Liz:

But, like, why didn't any parent go, I'm not leaving. Yeah. Like but but I also understand that there is a there's a climate of, like, oh, we don't wanna mess this up for our kids. Right. So we're gonna do what we're told.

Liz:

But I I don't know. I feel like there's such a line to that. Yeah. There's an

Demonte:

extent to that.

Jada:

Absolutely. I feel like the line was very evident between I'm gonna protect my kid and I'm not gonna ruin their career because the the examples were there. They were clear as day. And it really just came down to, like I don't know. Maybe some parents had other motives, like, no.

Jada:

This is what we need. This is what the family needs, and it just it fell on my kid. But I don't know if I was a parent, and I'm hearing all these things. I'm seeing them with my own eyes. My kid can do something else.

Jada:

Like, you know, like, I would hate to take my kid out of what they love to do. Yeah. But if I knew it would end like how it ended for a lot of those kids, I'd pull them out. Like, in the recent episode, Brian, he was on All That. His mom popped up.

Liz:

I wanted to talk about that.

Jada:

Yes. And she was like and the journalist asked. She was like, okay. What would you tell any young black actor? Because there's also a lot of racism dealing

Liz:

with Nickelodeon.

Jada:

And especially on All That, they only had 2 black actors, a girl and a boy. And she said, if you see something wrong, pull them out no matter what. Like, they had it was too many examples that proved to them that this was not the spot for their kid, but they just didn't do anything about it. And some of those damages are just irreversible.

Liz:

Right. And well, in talking about, like, that whole thing about the diversity issue too, it was it was actually disgusting to watch Dan Schneider in his interview be like, oh, I did so much for diversity because I put in Keenan and Kennel. Yeah. Because I put in like, that's not that doesn't add to that. I heard you add 1 token.

Liz:

Yeah. Like, literally. Yeah. Like You make

Jada:

one token show and now you did all you can do for black people. No. And like those 2 actors said, they said, so not only did you overlook us, you answered and continued to overlook us by saying you helped somebody else. Right. That doesn't change what you did to us because you didn't help us.

Liz:

Right. Yeah.

Jada:

We were still the only 2 black people on this all white cast, and you didn't give us any of the opportunities you gave them. And not only that, we were fired. You let us go.

Demonte:

Yeah.

Jada:

And they still stayed on the show. So it was, like, all the apologizing in that whole interview, which, yeah, of course, he came with an interview after the docuseries released.

Liz:

And can I say something really quick? Was that T Bo that was there?

Demonte:

That was so

Jada:

No. Because

Liz:

oh, dude.

Jada:

For my Carly.

Liz:

Yes. Carly. Taco's from the stake.

Jada:

Bro. Yeah.

Liz:

When I

Jada:

saw him, I was like, this has to be they had to perform this. This is a performance. Yeah. Literally. Because there's no way you get somebody from your show.

Jada:

And they're like, of course, I'll

Demonte:

And then post it on your actual YouTube channel.

Jada:

And it posted on your Instagram.

Liz:

Oh my god.

Jada:

All your in it's on your Instagram and your YouTube. Like, come on now. This is another show. Right. Literally.

Jada:

Yeah. This is a mini doc for the documentary that

Liz:

was person that you're putting on the payroll is interviewing him. Asking the hard questions about

Jada:

your job. Ask you the hard course. Like, come on, Dan. Did you no.

Demonte:

Did you no.

Jada:

Did you do it, Dan? What?

Liz:

Well, Well, and I okay. Going back to the mom and Brian. Mhmm. Mhmm. I'm sorry.

Liz:

He was what? He said he was, like, 13 around the time they got married. They didn't talk for years afterwards when his mom did the right thing for him. I thought that that was crazy because I assumed because they were on the documentary together that, like, okay, like, they obviously, I knew they were mad at each other at the time because she brought that up, but they just recently started talking again. Yes.

Liz:

Right. I think that's kinda crappy at Brian. Honestly, like, what? Because when

Jada:

I saw it, I was like because I thought the same thing. I was like, okay. You see, it got rocky. You know? He has some resentment.

Jada:

He was angry. But now when she talking about Valentine's Day rolled around, I was like, you mean 2024 Valentine's Day? Right now? He's like, he's a dad. He has a 10 year old and a 4 year old.

Jada:

And I'm like, that broke your relationship so much with your mom that you just got back in contact with her?

Liz:

Yeah. All of that, which was in the nineties, early 2000s.

Jada:

Like, that's not all. Documentary, which and it also it's also interesting to know about how he said it took that documentary to realize that that was the trauma that was the reason for why you

Liz:

were acting that way. But you also came on the show talking about your trauma. So I don't understand how that made you realize, like, that thing airing. And then also and your mom still has to text you, Happy Valentine's Day first.

Jada:

Yeah. No.

Liz:

After you watch your mom be like, I was so

Jada:

upset about you.

Liz:

And I was like, what?

Demonte:

Sorry. I think with that, with the factor of Brian not speaking to his mother, for many years, because I think around the time he was on all that, it's like 2,004, 2,005 ish, so a little bit over almost a decade ago, honestly. Mhmm. But

Liz:

I

Demonte:

think trauma itself, let's just say this, trauma. Right. You react to things in a different way, in ways in which most other people may not do. Mhmm. And that includes possibly not talking to, a prominent family member for years.

Liz:

Right. Yeah.

Demonte:

So I think what they're

Liz:

because they were associated with that moment. I see what you're saying. Yeah. For sure.

Demonte:

And a part in a I think the 4 1 of the 4 episodes, Brian's mom said when they told him the news that he was being fired, he's not being brought back. He grew up. Like, he's she's seen the young man come out of him that day. So I think it started with that. And, of course, that's, like, years years later.

Demonte:

But it takes time to get clarity on some things. So, possibly, the documentary was a way of saying, wow. Like, I really went this long while talking to my mom.

Liz:

Yeah. But see, I was laughing because I was like, Demontae is so much more empathetic than me. I'm like, how could you be mad at your mom? Love your mom. But, no.

Liz:

No. I totally

Jada:

see what

Liz:

you're saying. Yeah.

Demonte:

No. Yeah. At the time, he had every right to be angry. But Yeah. I think, at the end of the day, it really did seem like the mom was trying to look out for

Liz:

Yeah. For some Yes.

Demonte:

Because if if I was not positioned, well, me personally, if I was not positioned, if I seen anything or just seen one clip of any kind of sexual any any endo Yeah. I'm pulling my child out of the show Mhmm. Regardless. I'll break the contract if I have to. Absolutely.

Demonte:

They're they're leaving Nickelodeon Studios. But I think it's there's many different elements that we may never know or find out unless Brian or both Brian and his mom continues to speak out on it. And then just give advice to any actors or actresses, especially black actors or black actors that are Mhmm. On the gloating right now or anywhere to just just be careful. Just be aware.

Jada:

Yeah. Yeah. I think it was a great vulnerability moment. Mhmm. I think it really I feel like that piece there, like, having them interact and them being, like, so open about, like, yeah.

Jada:

This is the first time we've, like, sat together and just you know what I'm saying? Really been in each other's presence. I think that really opens up, like, how much, like you said, trauma and how much these kids went through that it's impacted them as adults. Because even like that, you can say the Drake Bell interviews when he's like, this is the first time people knew, like, John Doe was me. This is the first time I'm saying it on camera.

Jada:

Like, there's some things I don't even know how to say, not even on camera, just out of my mouth. And it's just, like, it really puts in perspective, like because it's funny because before the documentary, I remember all of, like, the little DUI articles you hear about Drake Bell. When he crashed his car, when he ran away for those 3 days, he left his phone. Yeah.

Liz:

That was

Jada:

And people are like, what's happening to Drake Bell? But it's crazy to see how Yeah. Much something can just truly change your mind and impact you and

Demonte:

he's like have that impact.

Jada:

Yeah. And he's like, I never knew that was the reason I started spiraling in my adult years. Yeah. And I'm like, I

Liz:

think that people were just like, oh, just another crazy child. Sorry. And it's like they didn't know. And I'm like, okay. We always say just another crazy child star.

Liz:

Like, how many times does this happen before to these, like, children

Jada:

stuff like that? Oh, yeah. For sure. Yeah.

Liz:

And just, like, how it manifests. I mean, it manifests in a way that, like, is destructive to yourself. Mhmm. Like, just so sad. But talking about the mom and how she absolutely did the right thing and stuff like that.

Liz:

On the other end of the spectrum, I wanna bring up that mom that obviously, it's super hard situation. Mhmm. But the mom of the kid who got the email

Jada:

Oh, Brandy. Brandy's mom? Yeah.

Liz:

Yeah. Oh my god. Oh my what do you mean you're not gonna tell the tell the police

Jada:

I just don't Nicola. I just don't understand. And that that her as a mom was probably my biggest example of I just don't understand those parents because her Brandy at the time and I guess it also speaks volumes that it's her mom and not even Brandy speaking herself about the situation. But the fact that Brandy was not only 9 years old.

Demonte:

She she

Jada:

She was a background character for these shows.

Liz:

Background and background character. Yeah. This is not like she would be Amanda Larson. No.

Jada:

This this was happening to all of the characters. So you really have to take into account how many of the feature characters are being affected. Not only the main stars with names on the show, but script wise. How many people that pop in for 2 seconds are being targeted? Do you know what I'm saying?

Jada:

How many people that walk down the street to be like a side character are being affected? Because that story and like you said, it really didn't make no sense. It's like, oh, I can't call the police. All I have to do is make sure she's following

Liz:

up on the street. Herself getting in trouble. Yeah. And it's like, you're not gonna put your kid first and be like, oh, and make sure that this this doesn't happen to another kid.

Jada:

Exactly. Because even going to court and you heard about all the other little girls that were affected by this one man, you had all the evidence to lock him up. Right. You had everything people wish they had in cases like this. Right.

Jada:

And you literally chose to be selfish and say, no. I'm not gonna I'm not gonna send

Liz:

them to the police.

Jada:

I'm not gonna do anything for me, like you said. And it's also sucky. I kinda felt off about it because she started off by saying how she wanted to be an actor and her mom didn't let her.

Liz:

And my mom was like, no, it's awful.

Jada:

And she's like,

Liz:

but I'm gonna let my daughter do it.

Jada:

Right. So I kinda saw how this was going and it's like, maybe you didn't go to the police because you wanted your daughter to get as much as possible but it's like, your mama already knew how Hollywood was. That's why you couldn't do it. Right. Why not listen and pass that on to your kids versus living through your kid?

Jada:

I think that's what happened. She was living through Brandy, then Brandy hit what her mother was talking about, but now it's you know

Liz:

what I'm saying? Explanation for it when you allow your 9 year old to email with a with a producer A grown man. With a grown man because, oh, they just seem so nice. No. It's a grown man.

Liz:

This is 11 year old and this is a grown man.

Jada:

That girl must be contacting you about your child. And if she if he needs to talk to her, you'd be at the room present. Yeah. Or anything stays at the studio or he's emailing you.

Liz:

I guess he'd say, like, oh, you didn't know how bad the Internet was. Any contact even if in person, any contact with your own man with a 9 year old is, like, gonna be

Jada:

problematic. Especially when you're dealing with business because they're just some she's not gonna understand at

Liz:

9 No.

Jada:

To talk about, like, her career and

Liz:

things like that. Talking about a career. She can barely spell. Right?

Jada:

Like, she doesn't under all she see that she's doing, she's in front of the camera having fun. Like, she doesn't understand the money or the the contracts or anything. So you're just

Liz:

So what do you think they're talking about?

Jada:

Literally, what are they what are they talking about? Because she what are they talking about? Come on now. What are they talking about?

Liz:

That's insane.

Demonte:

So the person we're talking about in mind, Jason Handy, just clarify well, not clarify, but just back on information. According to Business Insider, he only received 6 years. It Oh, wow. Is not just even talking to Brandy, but for a whole bunch of other stuff.

Liz:

Right. Because then he was the one that had, like, the souvenirs. Right? Yes. From the Yes.

Demonte:

So, and then the other person, I think if we were gonna talk about him, Brian Peck

Jada:

Yeah.

Demonte:

He only received 6 months to my understanding.

Liz:

All those glowing letters from other children.

Jada:

For other child actors supporting him.

Liz:

And it's like, why would any court think that that serves a per they're on his payroll. They Literally. Like, what do you think was gonna happen? Like, why don't why are you bringing people that, like, were above him in managing or something like that? Or I don't adults?

Liz:

Maybe? But you have to have children to write you letters of recommendation.

Jada:

Like, what is this? This is not a college scholarship. Like, what are we talking about? Alright. And the judge took it and ran.

Jada:

And it's like, is this how the court of law

Demonte:

works for you? He only served few months, jail or prison and then got to well, he had to write you as sex offender. But he needed he basically went to Disney Channel.

Liz:

Yeah. He went on back to Kobe.

Demonte:

He went to Disney Channel, another kid's network, and worked on, Zach and Cody.

Liz:

Cody. Yeah. And also in a weird I just wanna point out, his role on Zach and Cody was London Tipton's mirror. Yes, it was. Yeah.

Liz:

The voice was literally talking about children's appearances through voice acting. Through voice acting. And that was his role after

Jada:

he But is this still not screaming any wrongness to you?

Demonte:

The fact that Disney Channel Picked him. Picked him even though he was registered as his person. So,

Liz:

And it's not like nobody from Nickelodeon talks to Disney Channel.

Jada:

Exactly. Like, how

Liz:

do you think

Jada:

crossovers happen? They talk to each other. They talk to each other.

Liz:

That was one of my discussion questions. I was gonna ask, like, do we think that Disney Channel is the same way? I mean, it's this it's pretty much the same thing.

Jada:

I think so.

Liz:

It's just different people that are running.

Jada:

Yeah. I think so. Me and Demontory are talking about this. I think Disney Channel is absolutely the same way. I feel like the difference with Disney Channel, especially with, like, if you go way back to those shows, Hannah Montana, Sunny with a Chance

Demonte:

Wizard Waverly plays.

Jada:

Wizard of Waverly plays, the Jonas Brothers show. I think the main difference would be they were a little older, and it was a lot of personal relationships tied into everything they had going on, but they still had no protector. So I think the main thing with these networks is, like, there's nobody there specifically for the actors. Right. Like, there's executives, there's directors, there's producers, but like you said, they're on a payroll.

Jada:

So at the end of the day, they're gonna make you do what they need you to do to get their money. But there's no one advocating for when the kids need a break, when the kids are going through stuff, or specifically Disney Channel with teenagers when they're doing going through t real teenage stuff, but they don't have that adult to guide them, to counsel them, to, you know, get them out of those places. So that ends with, like, a lot of actors do with addictions. They go down a dark road, jail time, or

Liz:

With Debbie Lovato.

Jada:

Yeah. In some cases, they're not here anymore because they just go down that deep, dark path, and they have nobody to bring them out of, which is like and then I can see it though how hard it is because those shows take years.

Liz:

Right.

Jada:

So this is wasn't like a 2 month thing. Okay. The show's done. These were years years. You're seeing these people every day from sunup to sundown.

Jada:

Like, these are repeated actions and it's like, how do you overcome that? You know?

Liz:

No. And and that's the thing we usually see that they sometimes don't. They don't.

Jada:

They don't overcome it and then but then like you said, that goes to, oh, another crazy child actor, but it's like nobody's there for them.

Demonte:

No. So if

Jada:

that were you, you'd probably be another crazy child actor because nobody's there for you.

Liz:

I wanted to but, you know, before we wrap up and everything, I wanna specifically talk about Dan Schneider as well. And just, like, talk about that line because while obviously he let a lot of really terrible jokes go through and all this stuff and he knew that he was pretty much harboring pedophiles, Drake Bell says that he's the only one that supported him at the channel. You know, like, so where do we fall with our opinions of Dan Sturm?

Demonte:

So I think and it could be the fact that Drake at the time didn't really catch on to what Dan was doing Mhmm. Because Dan was a writer and creator. But either way, that still, in my opinion, doesn't make up for it, misogyny or racism

Liz:

Mhmm.

Jada:

Or Right.

Demonte:

Sexist acts that he had his writers do

Liz:

Yeah.

Demonte:

On a kid's show or writing a kid's show. So just overall, for Drake to say, yeah, Dan was pretty much the only person to support me. If that is the case, then Dan was the only person that support him. But I think the fact of the matter is It

Liz:

doesn't erase it?

Demonte:

Doesn't erase it. No. Yeah.

Jada:

Yeah. I definitely say I agree. I think even if Dan didn't do a lot of, like, anything you say to the level that Brian Peck or Right. That Jason Which is, like,

Liz:

the worst that it can get. Like, you should've get a pat on the back. Yeah. Or, like

Jada:

But it's, like, this was still your network. Right. At some level, you were their top guy. Your this is these are your

Liz:

kids when you when they're there.

Jada:

Literally. So it's like the fact that, one, you don't pick up to messages or you don't pick up to these things. And 2, if somebody came to you about it and you chose not to act, you're still at fault because you were the top guy. You were head CEO in charge. So these people are coming to you and you choose to ignore it.

Jada:

And then the other thing is he's in the interview, that he had. He was like, oh, if I notice if I saw it, I could go back. I change it. You did notice it. Yeah.

Jada:

They came to you. You were

Liz:

like, you were the only executive that knew that Ravel was being abused.

Jada:

You did know it.

Demonte:

But It wasn't just the Amanda show. It was Zoey 1 on 1, Jordan Peterson. ICarly, Victoria.

Liz:

And it's like this is the first time anyone complained about one of his shows.

Jada:

Literally, no. You knew it. And you saw these things happening, but you did not act on it. So you are still at the biggest fault. Because had it not been for you, there'd be no Nickelodeon.

Liz:

Well Had

Jada:

it not been for you, there'd be none of these shows in the first place. So

Liz:

And and one of the things is, like, why now did he choose to apologize when these things came out in Jeannette McCurry's book as well?

Jada:

That's what they mentioned too.

Liz:

Exactly. So why is right now the time instead of

Jada:

Instead of back then?

Liz:

I think it's truly because people can see it. People see the jokes. Yeah. I think it's truly about the medium. Jenna McCurdy's book was fantastic about it.

Liz:

Oh, I love it. I was so I literally read it in, like, 3 days.

Jada:

I Me too. I loved it. I loved it.

Liz:

But because people can literally see the jokes in front of them, I think that this was the right medium for him to be like Yep. Oh, I can't hide from this anymore.

Jada:

Yep. Yep. I definitely agree because even in written form, somebody can be like, oh, well, I can't see it. Right. You know what?

Jada:

There's no there's no video from I don't remember it. But when you put it in the way of a actual documentary and then you have those flashback clips, then You have the side to side of what they look like as an adult, and then them in the clip. It's like there's no running. Like, you did this. We performed these acts, and you let it happen.

Jada:

So what are you gonna say now? Mhmm. You're gonna come out with an apology like most people do, but there's no running. Like you said, there's nothing to hide from. We see it all now.

Jada:

They put it on the table and that's just

Demonte:

that. Yeah. And it's the fact that that's not an apology. That was scripted.

Jada:

But any means,

Demonte:

that's not an apology. And again, like Brian mentioned in in episode 5, before Dan became this big shot Hollywood executive, he was an actor.

Jada:

Mhmm. Right?

Demonte:

That was not an apology, because if it was truly a how heartfelt apology, we apologize decades ago. Mhmm. We apologize when Janet's book came out. You apologize when Amanda Bynes was going through what she went through. Mhmm.

Demonte:

You don't apologize to cover yourself when more and more people are now fully, literally seeing what has been going on behind the scenes. And that's just it. That's all what we know. Fortunately, there could be more that we don't know. But for Dan to be in that kind of position and then try to, in my opinion, gaslight, say, oh, I'm sorry.

Demonte:

I didn't mean it. You had a year or so.

Jada:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure.

Liz:

And talking about people like Chinev McCurdy who, you know, obviously weren't the brunt of all of, you know, the the worst things at Nickelodeon, but still really got kind of screwed over by Dan Schneider. Yeah. You know? Screwed over screwed out of her over oh my gosh. Screwed out with her own show.

Jada:

And then

Demonte:

Sarah McCall. Right? Yeah.

Liz:

Yeah. And then and then Victoria Justice as well. Mhmm. She this is not in the documentary, but the I they're way you know, when all these things are coming up on TikTok, of course, I'm engaging all the material. I'm a researcher when it comes down to it.

Liz:

But she's but she didn't hang out with him like the rest of the cast, specifically Ariana Grande. And so she was supposed to have a spin off show. She was supposed to release an album, like, right after the, the show stopped Mhmm. And she got completely dropped from all of that because she didn't go over to one of his, like, hot tub nights that you would have with the cast of Victoria's. Oh.

Liz:

So it's like, it's not about even, like, Harpreet, like, you know, whether you were a pedophile or not, which is obviously the worst thing in the world, but it, like, it was all about retribution for him. Like, that was his way of, like, controlling these kids. Controlling the narrative was, like, retribution for not making him seem cool

Jada:

enough to, like,

Liz:

hang with the kids.

Jada:

Messing with messing with his public image got you out of there. Like, all that matters was how people viewed him. Right. It doesn't matter what happened to you. As long as Dan was still Dan, Right.

Jada:

Things could go smoothly. Yeah. I agree. Yeah. For sure.

Liz:

The question that I wanna end with, I this was a real thinker for me today. I was thinking about it. I was I just wanted to wrap it up with, you know, there's people that are still profiting off of these IPs, like, that that were child actors and then know Dan and then specifically know people that were, you know, that have, you know, failed as child actors, you know, pretty much have been have been failed by the system. Like, Matt Bennett, who played Robbie Shapiro, he's still doing his DJ ing Yeah. With all Nickelodeon music and Disney music called I party 101.

Liz:

He goes across the entire country profiting basically off of these IPs. And then the iCarly reboot with, you know, Miranda Cosgrove and Got canceled. What?

Demonte:

Yeah. It got canceled.

Jada:

I'm gonna say I thought it was canceled.

Demonte:

Yeah.

Liz:

Well, they still did it for

Jada:

a Yeah.

Liz:

They still did it.

Jada:

They had, like, 2 seasons.

Liz:

2 weeks? Canceled. I wanna hear from both of you.

Jada:

Do you

Liz:

think that this is unethical when they know what has happened? But literally the other day on my TikTok, it was like, new I party 101 is, like, in South Carolina or something. I think

Jada:

I don't know. I think to a certain extent, yes, it is. Because you also just have to know if you're like say you're a Matt Bennett and you choose just go on with, like, I party, which is crazy because when I party came to Detroit on my birthday, I went.

Liz:

I went, yes. Oh my gosh.

Jada:

I wish I knew that.

Liz:

That's so fun. Wait. Okay. Listen. I'm not saying that it's ethical, but I am saying that it is fun and Robbie Shapiro Yeah.

Liz:

Was was was as such as a kid.

Jada:

It was so fun. It was so fun. But I think now, like, if it came now, I wouldn't do it. Yeah. Because I just feel like

Liz:

Well, my thing isn't even, like, the people going to it. Like, it's not unethical to go to because it's like, that's a fun thing.

Jada:

I mean,

Liz:

like, the people running it and are profiting on it.

Jada:

Yeah. I definitely like because even with me, if I was in that space and then, like, they're like, oh, you can go on tour and just perform all these songs. But then, like, hearing, like, people that I knew personally come out about the experiences, maybe I even experienced it too, I just couldn't I just couldn't put myself in the head space because I feel like it would give me flashbacks to listen to those songs, to remember how hard it was to make the song, what we had to go through to perform the songs, put it on TV. Right. So I should be able

Liz:

to

Jada:

feel profit off. That's right.

Liz:

Yeah. I get it.

Jada:

But then I just it just feels like kind of a slap in the face a little bit. Like, I don't wanna be mean when I say it, but I just feel like the people that choose to still profit off of it, but then come out with statements like, oh, no. I fully support the people that are speaking up. It's very brave of you. It's very brave of you.

Jada:

But how brave how brave is it for you to say that and then be someone that that person may confide in, but then they open Instagram and they hear a song and it's just like, it reverts them back to all the work they've done. It reverts them, you know what I'm saying, to all the work they have to do now because now the world knows. So now this isn't just a personal thing. This is a public thing. And one thing I wish that would also stop is people would stop rushing people to speak out if they have experiences because that's not how you help people going through something.

Jada:

You have to let people take their time. Yeah. And even sometimes with things like that, people profiting off with it. It could be kind of a rush factor. Because it's like, okay.

Jada:

These songs are still playing. Yeah. You can speak now. You know? Or even I especially think people wanted did Matt speak out?

Jada:

I think I saw something, but I do know people in his comments like, okay. You're still gonna do these songs. You're not gonna say nothing. Right. And we're just gonna go

Liz:

on tour. This is still gonna be like your whole

Jada:

personal story. Your job. Yeah. Like, you just don't have anything to say where half the people went through this horrible stuff. You're gonna play that song first.

Jada:

Like, this couldn't be a thing.

Liz:

And you're best friends with Ariana Grande still is.

Jada:

Literally. And she would do some stuff.

Liz:

Right.

Jada:

Yeah. Some stuff. So it's like and to me, I don't know. It feels like a slap in the face a little bit just to still do it knowing what it comes with. Right.

Jada:

But I mean, if you've been doing it for so long, that's all you know.

Liz:

And and I liked your point also of like, I put in the work to make these songs happen, like, on Victoria's. Literally. Yeah. I should be able to still profit off of it.

Jada:

Yeah. That's cool.

Liz:

And and say and me and maybe that is his way of, like, reclaiming what happened on Victoria's as being like, now I get paid to DJ the songs that I made with Dan Schneider. You know? Yeah. And I get to do it on my own without having to listen to him. So I Yeah.

Liz:

Yeah. I see both times.

Jada:

Yeah. I did too. Yeah.

Demonte:

So I think it's unethical. Okay. Full stop. Full stop. And I have reasons for it.

Demonte:

Mainly because, a

Liz:

Speak the truth. I have reason. I have reason. Let me

Demonte:

be clear.

Liz:

Let me be clear.

Demonte:

But no. Mainly because, a, I think, Matt Bennett, he was much older than all of the main cast members at the time. So I'm not I'm saying that he probably knew, but if you had any kind of knowledge of what was going on or even now, not even before this documentary came out, but just like YouTube docuseries all on Dan Snyder or whatever. You're still kind of benefiting and profiting off of this one thing that gave so many people traumatic experiences. So that's one thing.

Demonte:

So the second thing is, I think with folks like Jeanette McCart, like the iCarly reboot, the main thing with that is is Sam come is is Sam's gonna come back? Jeanette says she's not going to come back to that show at all. The same with, Noah Muck who plays Gibby. He said he's not coming back. I love

Liz:

you. I love you. I love you. So

Demonte:

but, you had at least 2 folks of the main cast, or that's not even point. You have 2 folks saying they're not coming back. Mhmm. They're saying they're not coming back for a reason. It could be because they're busy, or they just simply don't wanna come back, or because they had a bad experience on original during the original run-in which the network did not help them at all, which kinda brings the question, why go with the reboot?

Demonte:

And think same thing could be said about, like, the Zoey one one movie,

Liz:

which Right? I I forgot about that.

Jada:

I forgot about that. I never, like, super

Demonte:

see it.

Jada:

But Okay.

Demonte:

I think, in in certain instance, it is unethical. Now, of course, if Matt truly Scott didn't know what was going on, then that's one thing. Mhmm. But if you're still making money off of, just something that most folks were getting, like, traumatic events or experiences off of, then that's that's just coming, honestly.

Liz:

Yeah. So

Jada:

Yeah. I get that. You know?

Liz:

Yeah. Well, guys, thank you so much for coming on to the podcast.

Jada:

Thank you for having us. Us and then yeah. Yes. Thank you for having us.

Demonte:

Yeah.

Liz:

I love

Jada:

I'm a House Lights fan. I love House Lights.

Liz:

Oh my god. I'm in All Shades of Chocolate and throw just throw it out.

Jada:

Throw it out there.

Liz:

All Shades of Chocolate are award winning podcast on the same news podcast network. Listen to it. It's amazing and wonderful. Absolutely. Love.

Jada:

Love, love, love.

Liz:

Yeah. If you love House Lights, I'm sure you'll love All Shades of Thrones. You'll love it. You'll love it. I will see you guys next week for the last, week, I think, of the season of House Lights.

Jada:

Oh my god. We're almost over.

Liz:

We're almost over. Well, bye.

Demonte:

Bye.