A disturbing clip of Ariana Grande during her time on Nickelodeon has resurfaced amid the release of the documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
Episode 1, “Rising Stars, Rising Questions,” shows a montage of inappropriate clips featuring former Nickelodeon child stars, one of which includes Grande pretending to “milk” a potato during a comedic bit and pouring water over her face in a sexualized manner.
“There are all of these set-ups that reference porn,” an interview subject says before the montage.
In the video, Grande sits on a bed and says, “Sometimes I wonder if you can get juice from a potato,” before grunting and wrapping her hands around the potato.
Another clip in the montage shows “goo” being squirted on Jamie Lynn Spears’s face during a scene in Zoey 101.
The potato video first resurfaced in 2022 when a tweet called out Grande’s reluctance to revisit her previous work with Dan Schneider, which includes Victorious and Sam & Cat.
“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,” the tweet read in reference to one of her characters.
Quiet on Set explores the toxic culture behind popular kids’ shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s, particularly the work created by Schneider for Nickelodeon. The four-part Investigation Discovery series features several former child stars, including Drake Bell from Drake & Josh and Bryan Hearne and Giovonnie Samuels from All That.
In the series, Bell details the alleged sexual abuse he faced from former Nickelodeon coach Brian Peck. “I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep. I woke up to him, I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me,” Bell said. “I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react, and I have no idea how to get out of this situation.”
Bell continued, “I was just trapped. I had no way out. The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal. I don’t know how to elaborate on that on camera.”
