Nickelodeon accused of sexualizing Ariana Grande when she was a teenager.
The 7 Rings singer rose to fame at a young age for her role as Cat Valentine on Victorious, in 2010.
She famously made the move to spin-off Sam & Cat, opposite iCarly’s Jennette McCurdy – who reprized her role as Sam Puckett – in 2013.
However, after McCurdy’s tell-all memoir was releasedin which she discussed allegations of exploitation by someone she called “The Creator” during her time on the network, fans have wondered if Grande was also a victim.
Twitter user @veronasfilms shared a series of clips of the 29-year-old in the role of Cat, from Nickelodeon’s now-defunct site, TheSlap.
The footage features a selection of evocative self-tapes of the character, written and directed by Dan Schneider.
The clips showed her putting her fingers in her mouth at one point, while trying to “squeeze a potato” at another.
She was also filmed trying to stick her toe in her mouth in one sketch, before lying on a bed and pouring water on herself in one clip.
Grande was 16 years old at the time of filming.
“Everyone keeps bringing Ariana Grande for stand-drama against Jennette and I don’t know why. Let’s not forget that Ariana herself is a victim of Dan Schneider’s creepiness,” the message read.
“That’s why she doesn’t talk about the role of Cat Valentine anymore. They sexualized and infantilized her.’
The compilation video has since been viewed more than 3.4 million times and the tweet has received more than 78.8k likes.
It should be noted that Grande has not spoken out against Schneider and participated in a Sam & Cat 10-year anniversary celebration in 2020.
Fans shared the allegations on social media after the release of McCurdy’s memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died, in which she claimed she was sexualized as a child.
On the pages, the former actress details her abusive relationship with her mother, as well as her experience working at Nickelodeon.
She didn’t mention Schneider by name, but referred to someone like “The Creator,” claiming that they supplied her with alcohol when she was a minor, and forced her to re-record her first on-screen kiss several times on another occasion.
The iCarly actress claimed that “The Creator” also massaged her shoulders against her will, and that she was “afraid of being viewed as a sexual being” during her time in the public eye.
Schneider created Victorious, iCarly, Sam & Cat and a range of other programs for Nickelodeon before leaving the company in 2018.
He previously denied allegations that he “sexualized” child actors on his shows in a 2021 New York Times interview, labeling the claims as “ridiculous.”
“I wouldn’t have the long-lasting friendships and loyalty of so many renowned people if I had mistreated my actors of all ages, especially minors,” he told the publication.
“I’m very willing to defend creative things I believe in.”
He added, “The comedy was totally harmless.”
Metro.co.uk has reached out to representatives from Ariana and Nickelodeon for comment.
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