Sources:
www.huffpost.com/entry/jennette-mccurdy-eating-disorder_n_5c812d61e4b0e62f69ea8363
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Nickelodeon
https://screenrant.com/nickelodeon-shows-most-episodes/
https://www.distractify.com/p/is-jennette-mccurdy-in-icarly-reboot
https://adri.substack.com/p/what-we-dont-talk-about-when-we-talk
Content Warning:
Eating Disorders
Sexual Harassment
In 1977, in Columbus, Ohio, Dr. Vivian Horner created the first Nickelodeon series: Pinwheel. The creation of this pre-school show jumpstarted the massive TV network that we know today, and at the hands of corrupt directors and producers, it was all downhill from there.
At the ripe old age of 14 years old, actress Jennette McCurdy was signed to a lead role in Nickelodeon’s upcoming show: iCarly. The majority of Nickelodeon shows run for a limited span of four seasons, but iCarly stayed along for an extra two seasons. According to ScreenRant, it contains 97 episodes – 32 more than their rival network Disney Channel’s maximum.
Jennette played the role of Sam Puckett, whose most prominent traits are aggressiveness, loyalty, and a love for food. Her character’s tendency to eat and overeat is shown throughout the entirety of the show, manifesting itself as an obsession with fat cakes, fried chicken, bacon, smoothies, root beer, and tater tots. This doesn’t seem like such an egregious trait – especially for such an eccentric character, but when inspected a little bit further, it brings a necessary microscope onto iCarly’s producer: Dan Schneider.
Schneider worked for Nickelodeon for 24 years, before parting ways in 2018. He was fired “at a natural time,” but coincidentally, soon after coming under fire for sexualizing the feet of teenage girls, specifically those who were under his lead in television. Amanda Bynes, for example, who was recruited by Schneider at the age of 9. She joined the cast of “All That” – a comedy sketch for children. Amanda Bynes is thought to be one of the first subjects of Schneider’s perversion and abuse in 1996, and Jennette McCurdy is supposedly one of the last, parting from Nickelodeon in 2014 at the abrupt conclusion of iCarly’s spinoff Sam and Cat.
Aside from the sexual harassment and abuse, Nickelodeon took a toll on Jennette and her self-image. She disclosed in an article written for HuffPost that she knew she would get more roles if she maintained a child-like figure. In a moment of realization in the car with her mom, who assisted in Jennette’s disordered eating, the actress knew she was too far in to stop. She had booked 6 roles in the year, all younger than her real age.
After being cast to iCarly, Jennette’s habits began to spiral more and more. The constant pressure of always being in the public eye, either by social media or by the growing popularity of her TV show, really took a toll on her. There’s a gap in the HuffPost timeline, but rumors circulate that iCarly and Dan Schneider’s direction only exacerbated Jennette’s disorder. As previously mentioned, Sam Puckett’s most identifiable trait is her love for food. It’s not a stretch to assume that Schneider was aware of Jennette’s struggles and chose to ignore them. A source cited by many as proof of Schneider’s abuse is the following picture of Miranda Cosgrove, visibly distraught by the presence of Schneider near her.
His role in Nickelodeon’s network, and the length of time he was allowed to remain employed there speaks volumes about the industry and its priorities. Schneider was never held accountable for his actions, and it’s paving the way for past, current, and future abusers to get away with it. Hollywood does not take care of its people, and it’s up to the public to hold the industry accountable for the way its children are treated.
I love that you’re teaching people about corrupt industry people like this, I had no idea about Jennette and it so saddening to think anyone has to go through this, but then seeing a childhood figure like her is just heart breaking . It’s not right and it’s not okay.