Former “Kenan & Kel” star Kenan Thompson is calling for more investigation amid the release of “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.”
On Wednesday’s episode of the “Tamron Hall” show, Thompson weighed in on the Investigation Discovery docuseries, which includes an interview with ex-Nickelodeon actor Drake Bell. Bell alleged that former “All That” and “The Amanda Show” dialogue coach Brian Peck sexually abused him as a child star at the network.
Dan Schneider, who has production and writing credits on “All That” and “Kenan & Kel,” is also alleged to have fostered a toxic workplace environment at Nickelodeon.
On Tamron Hall’s talk show, the longtime cast member of “Saturday Night Live” called it a “good thing” for the docuseries to come out, as people are sharing “stories that need to be told for accountability’s 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,” said Thompson, who also appeared on “All That.”
“So to hear that they’ve gone through terrible things like that is just, it’s really tough.”
Hall noted: “We did reach out to Dan Schneider’s team, and they directed us to a response that he posted on YouTube. We also reached out of course to the production company and they said that they investigate all of these things, investigate all of the allegations.”
“Well, investigate more,” Thompson chimed in.
“It’s supposed to be a safe space, you know? It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids. And to hear all about that is just like, ‘How dare you?’”
Elsewhere in their conversation, Thompson told Hall that the allegations are a “tough subject” for him to discuss.
“It’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I never witnessed, you know what I’m saying? Because all these things happened after I left, basically,” said Thompson, adding that Schneider “wasn’t really on ‘Kenan & Kel’ like that.”
“He got a ‘created by’ credit, but it was a different showrunner. So our worlds weren’t really overly overlapping like that outside of ‘All That,’ necessarily. And then all of that negativity kind of started happening outside of our tenure there,” Thompson said. “So I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it.”
He added that his heart goes out to “anybody that’s been victimized,” as well as their families.
Thompson joins a number of former Nickelodeon child stars who have responded to “Quiet on Set,” including Josh Peck, Alexa Nikolas and Allie DiMeco.
A fifth episode of the docuseries, titled “Breaking the Silence,” is scheduled to be released April 7.
