Ariana Grande Is ‘Reprocessing’ Her Nickelodeon Memories
Ariana Grande is breaking her silence on how her time at Nickelodeon has affected her. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter appeared on her “the boy is mine” music video co-star Penn Badgley’s podcast to open up about her childhood stardom.
As we’ve reported, Grande got her start in Nickelodeon shows Victorious and Sam & Cat from 2010 to 2014. Resurfaced footage of the young teenager at the time shows her being “sexualized and infantilized.”
The “7 Rings” singer was performing sexually suggestive acts like putting her fingers down her throat, putting her toes in her mouth, and pouring water all over her face and chest while lying upside down on a bed. Another viral video showed Grande’s character attempting to “juice” a potato, showing the star squeezing the object while making groaning noises.
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The clips came from a segment on the show called “Cat’s Random Thoughts,” which was written and directed by TV producer Dan Schneider.
Ariana Grande is ‘Reprocessing’ Her Nickelodeon Memories
While talking to the You star, Grande expressed her gratitude for getting her start on Nickelodeon. However, she said in the Wednesday (June 12) episode that she is “reprocessing [my] relationship to it a little bit now.”
While neither Schneider nor the Quiet on Set docuseries was named specifically during the episode, Grange said it has been “devastating” to hear stories from former child actors and referred to them as “survivors.”
She adds, “I think the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists.” In addition to parents being allowed to be present to ensure their child’s safety, Grande suggests all those looking to pursue a career in entertainment should have a contract making therapy “mandatory twice a week or thrice a week.”
While speaking with Swedish record producer and songwriter Max Martin recently, Grande opened up to him about “the stressful parts of what I was experiencing.” She added that young people don’t have the support they need to be a performer. She reiterates, “I’m still in real-time reprocessing my relationship to it.”
Reflecting on her Victorious segments, Grande admits later in the interview, “I think it just all happened so quickly, and now looking back on some of the clips, I’m like, ‘Damn, really? Oh, s—.’… and the things that weren’t approved for the network were snuck on to like our website or whatever. I guess I’m upset, yeah.”
Watch the interview below: