Kel Mitchell is the latest former child actor to speak out about alleged mistreatment on the set of a popular Nickelodeon show.
The former “Kenan & Kel” and “Good Burger” star spoke to Shannon Sharpe on the sports broadcaster’s “Club Shay Shay” podcast about an alleged run-in with unnamed higher-ups on “Kenan & Kel” in 1998 that made him walk off the set.
Mitchell said he had enjoyed working with the network since 1994, when he starred on the comedy series “All That” starting at 15 years old. However, he told Sharpe that things took a turn in 1998 on “Kenan & Kel,” which ran from 1996 to 2001.
“I remember there was a point where one of the execs, and one of the head writers, the show started changing a little bit,” Mitchell said. “The writing of the show started to change, and I didn’t like the direction it was going in.
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“I was just like, ‘OK,’ and so we started butting heads a little bit within that. And this was the point where I remember he got upset in front of everybody, took me to a room and he said some real derogatory things and went off.”
Mitchell, 45, did not name the executive or writer. TODAY.com reached out to Nickelodeon and Mitchell for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
“And me being from the South Side of Chicago, and that thought process, it was like OK, either I could put hands on him, or we could go argue — this is not going to end well,” Mitchell continued.
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“I am adult, but I’m also 19, and the things that he said was crazy and in that moment — I’m not the man I am today standing here — my thought process was, ‘All right bet, well I’m going to leave set, and we not gonna film today.’ So I walked off set.”
Mitchell marked that confrontation as a turning point in his career as a young actor.
“At that moment I felt disrespected about what was said, and how it was said,” he continued. “When he said that within that moment, it became real where it was like ‘Ohhh, OK, this is really a job. And this has really changed everything of how you think about it.’ And it wasn’t as fun any more when that was happening.”
Mitchell said he was dating his now-ex-wife, who was pregnant, at the time of the incident. He said he kept everything from the run-in with the executive to the pregnancy to himself at the time, not even telling his co-star, Kenan Thompson.
“I want people to understand the mindset of what might happen to young actors and the things that they’re going through,” he said. “We see it all the time with the suicide rate with actors and what goes on. And I was friends with a lot of the actors that are not here anymore.”
Mitchell is the latest former Nickelodeon star to speak out in the wake of the release of the Investigation Discovery documentary “Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.”
The five-episode series details the influence of producer Dan Schneider, who helmed several of the network’s most popular shows, including “All That.”
However, former employees and child stars allege Schneider presided over a toxic behind-the-scenes atmosphere.
Actor Drake Bell, who starred in “Drake and Josh” as well as “All That,” reveals in the docuseries that he was sexually abused by acting coach Bryan Peck. He was convicted in Bell’s case in 2004.
Bell is one of nine former child stars who appear in the docuseries. Mitchell did not participate in the project and neither did his “Kenan & Kel” co-star, Kenan Thompson, who said his “heart goes out” to those victimized. The documentary prompted former stars like Jaleel White, Jennie Garth and Matthew Underwood to speak out about their experiences behind the scenes or direct dealings with Schneider.
In a statement to TODAY.com on March 13, a spokesperson for the network said it had “adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”
“Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct,” the network said.
Schneider, who does not appear in the documentary, filed a lawsuit on May 1 against the people and companies behind “Quiet on the Set,” alleging its episodes “repeatedly state or imply that Schneider is a child sexual abuser.”
“In their successful attempt to mislead viewers and increase ratings, they went beyond reporting the truth and falsely implied that I was involved in or facilitated horrific crimes for which actual child predators have been prosecuted and convicted,” Schneider said in a statement to TODAY.com.
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