In a rather shocking turn of events, Nickelodeon - which has been an impacting part of 90s’ kids' childhood - has been accused of sexualising Ariana Grande when she was a child star.
The 29-year-old icon started her career as a teenager, and she shot to fame as Cat Valentine in the Nickelodeon series ‘Victorious’. Later, she turned out to be one of the biggest music stars but now, a compilation of several clips has resurfaced from the show and they have been going viral on the internet. Meanwhile, amid the backlash over the viral clip, Nickelodeon was accused of 'sexualising' and 'infantilising' the star.
The sharp criticism comes in response to the pop star’s former co-star Jennette McCurdy’s shocking revelations, which sparked from her new memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died.
In her memoir, apart from elaborating on her childhood abuse at the hands of her late mother, McCurdy also detailed allegations regarding on-set mishandlings and exploitation by Nickelodeon.
Meanwhile, fans were stumped by McCurdy’s alleged mistreatment, and others have since added that they feel Grande was also a “victim” of Nickelodeon.
A Twitter account named Veronasfilms shared a compilation of scenes of Grande as Cat on the channel’s, now defunct site, TheSlap, reported Independent.
As per the reports in the Independent, TheSlap was a website launched by Nickelodeon in tandem with its 2010 sitcom Victorious – where Grande first assumed her role as Cat – and offered viewers exclusive footage of the characters away from the show.
everyone keeps bringing ariana grande for stan drama against jennette and idk why. let’s not forget, ariana is a victim herself from the creepiness of dan schneider. this is why she doesn’t talk about the role of cat valentine anymore. they sexualized and infantilized her. pic.twitter.com/72MrdW2j33
— khalia. | FLOnomenal stan ☀️ (@VERONASFILMS) August 11, 2022
One of the categories on the website was titled Cat’s Random Thoughts, which showed Ariana’s character in a handful of self-tapes. All of these were written and directed by Dan Schneider.
“Everyone keeps bringing Ariana Grande for stan drama against Jennette and I don’t know why. Let’s not forget, Ariana is a victim herself from the creepiness of Dan Schneider,” the tweet reads. “This is why she doesn’t talk about the role of Cat Valentine anymore. They sexualised and infantilised her.”
The tweet also contained Ariana Grande’s video, who was 16 at the time and it shows a magnitude of suggestive scenarios, including sucking on her own toe, attempting to “juice a potato”, and sticking a finger in her mouth.
remember that episode of victorious and they were all locked in that rv? these scenes with cat all felt very uncomfortable too. pic.twitter.com/qZPwgRMNwf
— khalia. | FLOnomenal stan ☀️ (@VERONASFILMS) August 11, 2022
Meanwhile, amid all the backlash, Schneider has denied all the allegations and said he has not acted inappropriately with anyone he has worked with.
McCurdy reprised her iCarly character Sam Puckett alongside Grande’s Cat Valentine in the 2013 sitcom spinoff, Sam & Cat.
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