“Women being berated in the writers room is something that was just like … it’s considered par for the course,” the actress-producer said.
Mayim Bialik is sharing her thoughts about the harrowing allegations in Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries.
On a recent episode of her The Breakdown podcast, former child actress Jenna von Oÿ noted how women’s alleged experiences at Nickelodeon while working under Dan Schneider — detailed in the five-part series — weren’t much different than “things that I heard about other sets during our time.”
The Big Bang Theory alum added in response, “Women being berated in the writers room is something that was just like — I’m sorry — it was considered in — I mean, I hate to say it, — it’s considered par for the course. I will say I do not believe that happened in our writers room … and there were things that we all thought were OK to even joke about, which now we’d be mortified.”
Later in the episode, former Even Stevens star Christy Carlson admitted that she hadn’t seen Quiet on Set because she found it “extremely triggering.”
“I think we’re all kind of living with a little bit of survivor’s guilt,” she added. “That could have been any one of us, and we all kind of need to grieve together, I think at this point and sort of come together to try to figure out what now.”
The docuseries dove into allegations of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior involving underage stars and crewmembers on Nickelodeon TV shows under Schneider, including The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh and Zoey 101. Several former actors, writers and producers spoke out throughout the series, as well as following its release, to recount their personal experiences and share support.
“You’re watching what the entire culture was like. This is not what what happened because ‘Nickelodeon this-that.’ Of course, it touched me personally. Of course it did,” Bialik later explained. “But what it also reminded me of is how far we had to come to get to a place where people like Christy get to advocate and we know what she means when she says, the mental health of children on set matters and there are things that we can do to make sure that there are no exceptions. ‘You don’t get to push that child.’”
Carlson also revealed that ID approached her about sharing her story, but she passed, explaining that she felt more comfortable speaking out on the podcast.
