Ariana Grande Finally Addressed the ‘Quiet On Set’ Docuseries

"The environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting."

When Investigation Discovery's docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV exposed how vulnerable child actors can be, more and more actors came forward with ways to improve the conditions on set, including Disney Channel's Christy Carlson Romano and Victoria Justice. Now, Ariana Grande, who got her start on Nickelodeon's Victorious and its spinoff series Sam & Cat (both shows were created by Dan Schneider), opened up about Quiet on Set during an appearance on Penn Badgley's podcast, Podcrushed, saying that she thinks that there are many ways to improve the experience for child actors and offering some suggestions.

“A lot of people don’t have the support that they need to get through performing at that level at such a young age, but also dealing with some of the things that the survivors who have come forward…there's not a word for how devastating that is to hear,” Grande said. "I think that the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists, I think there should be parents allowed to be wherever they want to be."

Related: All About 'Quiet on Set' and the Allegations Against Dan Schneider

She added that contracts for the stars should be clear and focused on safety and protection, saying that whether they were actors or musicians, they should have their parents around.

“I think if anyone wants to do this or music or anything at any level of exposure that it means to be on TV or to do music with a major label or whatever, [it] should be in the contract,” Grande said. She explained that it's so easy for children to be exploited, saying that she's seen "a strange pattern that occurs where it’s really taking advantage of how much it means to the young performer to get a laugh from Video Village."

In the wake of the docuseries, many viewers pointed out that Grande and her co-star, Jennette McCurdy, were often put in situations that had an underlying sexual innuendo.

Related: Christy Carlson Romano Called Out ‘Quiet On Set’ For Being “Trauma Tourism”

“And the innuendos were like, we were told and convinced as well that it was the cool differentiation.  And I don’t know, I think it all just happened so quickly and now looking back on some of the clips I’m like, ‘That’s… damn, really?’" she said. "The things that weren’t approved for the network were snuck on to like our website or whatever it was, and that is another discovery.  But I’m going into it…I guess I’m upset.”

As for how she hopes the industry moves forward, Grande suggested that there be medical professionals available to the actors and their families—not only to support their mental health, but to offer guidance in what are often life-changing situations.

“There should be an element that is mandatory of therapy, of a professional person to unpack what this experience of your life-changing so drastically does to you at a young age, at any age," she said.

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