Another Former Nickelodeon Actor Alleges Network Did Not Keep Child Stars Safe

Nickelodeon did not keep child actors safe, alleges another former child actor. 

Following allegations of abuse made by iCarly star Jennette McCurdy, former Zoey 101 actor Alexa Nikolas says that she and other fellow child actors on the series "were not safe" while they worked on the show. In her memoir released earlier this month, McCurdy alleged that Nickelodeon offered her $300,000 in hush money not to discuss her time working on iCarly and "experience of The Creator's abuse" publicly. Nikolas also claims she felt unsafe around "The Creator" Dan Schneider. 

Nikolas, who leads a sexual abuse survivor organization called Eat Predators, led a protest outside Nickelodeon's Burbank animation studio on Thursday. During an Instagram livestream, she said, "I did not feel protected at Nickelodeon as a child, personally," and demanded "that Nickelodeon starts protecting children and not predators." 

At the protest, Nikolas called Schneider (creator of iCarly, Zoey 101, Drake & Josh, and several other Nickelodeon series) "the creator of childhood trauma," and said she "did not feel safe" around him while working at the network. She also recalled receiving unwanted massages from an executive. "What we’re seeing here is a bunch of ‘professional execs’ at Nickelodeon who did not protect the children on set," said Nikolas, calling out former executives like Sharon Lieblein and Cyma Zarghami, and former employees accused of misconduct like Ezel Channel, John Kricfalusi, and Jason Michael Handy. (Channel and Handy were both convicted of sex crimes). "Children on Nickelodeon were not safe, at least when I was on it." 

Nickelodeon has yet to address Nikolas or McCurdy's allegations.

Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. She was previously a reporter/producer at Decider and is a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.