Kenan Thompson reacts to ‘Quiet on Set,’ says his ‘heart goes out’ to those ‘victimized’

Kenan Thompson is sharing his thoughts about “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.”

The ID documentary peels back the curtain on the working conditions child actors and adult staff endured on Nickelodeon shows in the 1990s and 2000s, with an emphasis on the impact producer Dan Schneider had as many people alleged he created and fostered a toxic work environment.

Thompson, who rose to fame on the cable network’s “All That” and “Kenan & Kel,” was not part of the documentary and hasn’t watched it. In a March 27 clip of his appearance on "The Tamron Hall Show," Thompson also said he personally didn’t experience any of the things alleged in the docuseries.

“It’s a tough subject, you know?” he said. “It’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I’ve never witnessed because all these things happened after I left, basically, and Dan wasn’t really on ‘Kenan & Kel’ like that.

“I mean, he got a ‘created by’ credit but it was a different showrunner, so our worlds weren’t really overly overlapping like that, outside of ‘All That,’ necessarily. And then all that negativity started happening outside of our tenure there.”

Thompson said he didn’t know what was going on, but he sympathizes with anyone who had a traumatic experience.

“I wasn’t really aware of a lot of it, but my heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized or their families,” he said.

“I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and is putting things on display that need to be, you know, stories that need to be told for accountability sake," he continued. "But it’s definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place and I have fond memories of my co-stars and stuff like that, so to hear that they’ve gone through terrible things like that, it’s just, it’s really tough.”

Schneider, who does not appear in “Quiet on Set,” is listed on IMDb as a writer for 27 episodes of “All That” and 11 episodes of “Kenan & Kel.” He’s also listed as a producer of both series, as well as Thompson’s 1997 movie, “Good Burger.”

Thompson is also all for continuing to look into the matter.

“It’s supposed to be a safe place, you know? It’s supposed to be a safe place for kids and to hear all about that it’s just like, ‘How dare you?’” he said.

In a statement to TODAY.com on March 13, a spokesperson for Nickelodeon said the network 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 parted ways with Nickelodeon in 2018, has also addressed his past behavior in a March 19 YouTube interview with former “iCarly” cast member BooG!e (born Bobby Bowman).

“The main thing that I would change is how I treat people and everyone,” Schneider said. “I definitely at times didn’t give people the best of me. I didn’t show enough patience I could be cocky and definitely overambitious and sometimes just straight-up rude and obnoxious and I am so sorry that I ever was.”

Schneider said he watched “Quiet on Set” and “could see the hurt in some people’s eyes," continuing to say that it made him "feel awful and regretful and sorry.”

“I wish I could go back ... and just do a better job and never ever feel like it was OK to be an a--hole to anyone, ever,” he added.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com