Melissa Joan Hart believes the victims who made allegations against Nickelodeon in the Quiet on Set documentary — even if she didn’t experience the same treatment while with the network herself.
“I absolutely trust them, believe them, 100 hundred percent,” Hart, 47, who starred on Nick’s Clarissa Explains It All in the ‘90s, shared during the Thursday, March 28, episode of the “Meghan McCain Has Entered the Chat” podcast.
Clarissa aired from 1991 to 1994 on the kid’s network. And while Hart — who has yet to see the documentary — said she wasn’t “negating” anyone’s else experience, she confessed that her own time with the network was nothing but a pleasant experience.
She does, however, believe that her location at the time could have made a difference.
Every Nickelodeon Star Who Has Reacted to Explosive ‘Quiet on Set’ Doc
“My experience is that I was in Orlando from 1989 to 1994, and I think maybe there was a difference between Orlando Nickelodeon and Hollywood Nickelodeon, although I’m not 100 percent sure on that,” she explained. “There weren’t a lot of executives [where I was], they were in New York … In Orlando, I had nothing but a wonderful experience.”
Being in Florida meant Hart was living in a “right to work state,” which led to the network “[working] the kids a lot harder than they probably legally should,” but she maintained that her time on the show was “a ton of fun” overall. The actress noted that she was surrounded by “an amazing crew” and “an incredible cast” on Clarissa, who took “such good care” of her.
“I mean, these people were protective of me,” she said, adding that she felt “very safe” under their guidance. “So I don’t know if it was the difference in Orlando, or the time period or whoever these guys were they weren’t around but I have to say not every egg in the Nickelodeon basket is rotten. There are good eggs.”
The Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries, which aired on Max earlier this month, provided a platform for former child stars and crew members to speak about their negative experiences on the set of producer Dan Schneider’s shows, including All That, The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, iCarly and more. The series featured on-camera interviews from cast members such as Katrina Johnson, Giovonnie Samuels, Kyle Sullivan and Bryan Hearne.
Drake Bell also appeared in the doc, breaking his silence about being the minor involved in a sexual abuse case against dialogue coach Brian Peck. (Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison in 2004.)
After Quiet on Set‘s premiere, Nickelodeon addressed the claims made in the docuseries. “Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct,” a statement to Us Weekly read.
The statement continued: “Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”
Schneider also reacted to the claims made against him directly, which included allegations of sexism and racism.
“Watching over the past two nights was very difficult,” he said in a YouTube video interview earlier this month. “Me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret, and I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.”
Schneider added that he was “green” and “excited” in the early days of his career with Nickelodeon, and it “hurts” to know he didn’t “pay it forward” to his employees at the time. “I wish I could go back and fix that,” he said.
Since the documentary hit Max, other Nickelodeon alums have spoken about the allegations against the network, including Kenan Thompson, who starred on All That in the mid-’90s before landing his own spinoff, Kenan & Kel, opposite Kel Mitchell.
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“[Being on set is] supposed to be a safe space,” Thompson, 45, told Tamron Hall during a Wednesday, March 27, appearance on her eponymous talk show. “It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids, and to hear all about that is just like, ‘How dare you?’”
However, like Hart, Thompson noted that his experience was not similar to those of the victims, despite being on Schneider-produced programming.
“Our worlds weren’t really, like, overly overlapping like that outside of All That necessarily,” he said. “And all that negativity kind of started happening outside of our tenure there. I wasn’t aware of a lot of it but my heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized and their families.”
