Ariana Grande has recently voiced her concerns following allegations that TV network Nickelodeon sexualized her during her early acting days.
Grande, known for her role as Cat Valentine on Nickelodeon’s Victorious and Sam & Cat, was featured in a series of clips from her time on the show that many found disturbing. The clips, which showcase Grande at the age of 16, include peculiar and suggestive actions directed at the camera.
One particular segment features Grande attempting to articulate a “sentence no-one has said before,” which bizarrely includes getting your uvula—the dangling structure at the back of the throat—stuck between a hamster’s toes. Grande demonstrated by placing her finger in her throat. Other scenes show her attempting to extract juice from a potato, placing her toes in her mouth, and pouring water on her chest while lying on her back.
These clips have sparked outrage among viewers, with some accusing the show of sexualizing the young actress.
Comments from disturbed viewers included, “This always makes me nauseous, imagine ‘directing’ a teenager to do that stuff as a grown man,” and “This is absolutely disgusting. As an adult watching this right now you can tell EXACTLY what they were doing.”
Grande recently addressed these episodes on the Podcrushed podcast, where she reminisced about her time as a child actor. She acknowledges that while there were beautiful moments and special memories created, reflecting on these particular clips left her stunned.
“I don’t know, it just all happened so quickly and now looking back on some of the clips I’m like, ‘Damn, really? Oh s**t’… and the things that weren’t approved for the the network were snuck onto like our website or whatever… I guess I’m upset, yeah,” said Grande.
In light of her experiences, Grande advocates for better protective measures for children working in the entertainment industry, including the availability of therapists and the presence of their parents during filming.
“I think the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists,” Grande emphasized. “I think parents should be allowed to be wherever they want to be, and I think not only on kids’ sets.”