Former Nickelodeon star Allie DiMeco said she was forced to kiss a 30-year-old man as a teen on her show in light of the new docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” which alleges abuse and a toxic work environment behind the scenes at the network.
The DiMeco, who was part of “The Naked Brothers Band” show from 2007-2009, took to TikTok over the weekend and shared her experience at the network after watching the new — and by many accounts, disturbing — documentary, the Hollywood Reporter noted.
DiMeco said she was “stressed” while watching the series, revealing that she “went through trauma” on the show after her teenage character Rosalina had a brief romance with a French character named Michel (played by Jake Hertzog).
“There was an episode where Rosalina ‘cheated’ on Nat and kind of kissed a French guy,” DiMeco said, noting that she didn’t want to kiss this “greasy a**” man.
“He’s a 30-year-old man,” she added. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t even watch it. It gave me f***ing the ick and it honestly gives me PTSD.”
Nickelodeon Star Allie DiMeco Says She Was Forced To Kiss Much Older Man On ‘Naked Brothers Band’ & Felt “I Might Be Fired If I Didn’t Do It” https://t.co/xmMpJdRf4J
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“I’m watching this ‘Quiet on Set’ documentary and it’s talking about how integral and vital it is to create — especially when it’s a kids cast — to create an environment where kids feel comfortable to say ‘No’ or ‘I don’t feel comfortable with this,'” DiMeco continued. “And I’m like, ‘Yeah, maybe they do express that though, it’s also more important to create an environment that listens to the kids and actually does not make them do things when they don’t want to do them.'”
DiMeco went on to talk about how they made her kiss “this 30 plus-year-old man when I was like 14, 15” — not once, she said, but “multiple times.”
“I told them many times I didn’t want to do it,” the former child star said. “My mom was very against it. And they just pretty much made me feel like I was going to lose my job and be fired if I didn’t do it.”
Following the documentary’s release, former child star Drake Bell came forward and said he was the John Doe from a sexual abuse case from 2004 involving former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck. Peck pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender, as The Daily Wire previously reported.
Docuseries contributors spoke frequently about former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider, who they said perpetrated abuse by acting in a controlling manner and making sexually suggestive jokes, some of which were used in children’s programming. They also alleged that Schneider was filmed in a hot tub with then 16-year-old actress Amanda Bynes.
“I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology,” Schneider said in a statement following the release of “Quiet on Set.”
Amanda Harding contributed to this piece.