Quiet On Set Episode 5 Exposes A Disgusting Amanda Show Moment
This article contains discussions and allegations of child abuse, racism, and sexual assault.
The fifth episode of the Investigation Discovery documentary "Quiet on Set" dropped on Max on Sunday, April 7 — and it brought more disturbing revelations about behind-the-scenes behavior at Nickelodeon during its heyday.
Raquel Lee Bolleau, who appeared alongside star Amanda Bynes on "The Amanda Show," brought up a particularly humiliating on-set incident where Bynes was told to spit liquid directly into Lee Bolleau's face across several takes. "There was a scene we were doing; it was called 'The Literals' and every time I said, 'Spit it out,' she would spit what was in her mouth – whether it was the water, whatever, like, directly in my face," Lee Bolleau revealed during the episode. "Everybody thought it was so funny. Everybody's laughing. Me? I did not find it funny."
"The third time, I was like, infuriated," Lee Bolleau continued. "Like, I was so mad that the director hurried and put me on the side of the set and was like, 'Listen, Raquel: breathe in, breathe out. She's the star of the show. Don't make too much of a problem. I'm going to ask her not to spit in your face, but you have to keep your cool.'"
The episode then showed the footage of the sketch in question, showing it to Lee Bolleau, fellow former Nickelodeon star Bryan Hearne, and his mother Tracey Brown. Upon seeing it, Brown exclaimed, "That's racist, period."
Many actors of color who worked with Dan Schneider felt the producer was manipulative and discriminatory
Both Bryan Hearne and Raquel Lee Bolleau revealed that they often felt discriminated against working on their Nickelodeon projects, and that their feelings regarding potentially humiliating content simply weren't taken seriously. Elsewhere in the docuseries, Hearne spoke about some of his worst moments, including one where he was covered in peanut butter for the show "Double Dare" and laid prone on the ground as dogs licked the peanut butter off of him.
In that fifth episode, though, Hearne said he wasn't aware of Lee Bolleau's story ... and he was horrified. "Oh, my God," he told Lee Bolleau. "That hit me really hard. To just be told, 'You don't matter' in that moment you're being spit on. You're saying, 'This person matters more than you; take it,'" Hearne said.
Hearne's mother Tracey Brown also chimed in with an important distinction about the dynamic between young actors like Amanda Bynes and young Black actors like Hearne and Lee Bolleau. "And there's a cultural difference, too, right? We are culturally trained to 'take it.' They are not," Brown mused. "I was disappointed there wasn't another Black boy on set. That's important. The camaraderie is important, let alone the likeness. It's not even just Black, it's Indigenous, it's Hispanic; you can't just have the one representing the whole world. It doesn't make sense to me."
Bryan Hearne has advice for young Black actors after his years on-set at Nickelodeon
In the fifth episode of "Quiet on Set," Bryan Hearne and his other Nickelodeon alumni of color were able to speak to their very different experiences on set — and Hearne noted that he and one of his fellow young actors, Giovonnie Samuels, felt like they had to be representative of all young Black people. "That was pressure, even for Gio and I," Hearne revealed. "The pressure for each of us to represent was very hard."
"Quiet on Set" features a few parents of former young stars — including the father of Drake Bell — who spoke to the pressures and humiliations their children faced at Nickelodeon, and Tracey Brown made an incredibly salient point about how young Black performers and their parents should handle any similar situations. Brown went as far as to say that if the sets are toxic or acting isn't providing joy anymore, Black children need to be prepared to save themselves any future pain and exit the business. "Do it, but if you have to walk away, do that," Brown advised. "And I would say that to the moms and the dads. Pull your kid out."
Producer Dan Schneider's most egregious wrongs were given a spotlight in Quiet on Set
So what exactly were the bombshell allegations leveled against Nickelodeon in "Quiet on Set?" The main thrust of the issues allegedly centered around a few men working behind the scenes — mega-producer Dan Schneider and vocal coach and erstwhile actor Brian Peck. Schneider was accused of creating a toxic work environment by former child actors and former adult colleagues alike; performers like Bryan Hearne revisited moments where they felt incredibly uncomfortable during sketches or bits and didn't feel as if they could stand up to Schneider. Female writers who worked with Schneider also alleged that he paid them less than their male colleagues and forced them into humiliating situations at work.
Peck's crimes are, it should be said, stomach-turning. The vocal coach briefly served 16 months in prison in 2004 for assaulting a minor; as "Quiet on Set" revealed for the very first time, that minor was former Nickelodeon breakout star Drake Bell, who was 15 when the assaults occurred. Bell sat down with the documentary crew for the first time to speak about the abuse he suffered at Peck's hands, and his harrowing story is no laughing matter. "Quiet on Set" has exposed the seedy underbelly of children's entertainment in a big way; as more Nickelodeon stars feel that they can come forward, it's not out of the question that more abusive behavior could potentially be revealed.
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).