‘iCarly’ Fans Devastated After Jennette McCurdy Retires From Acting, Refuses to Join Revival

iCarly alum Jennette McCurdy announced she would not be returning to TV for the reboot coming to Paramount+, which sent fans into a shock. The former child actress revealed in a recent episode of her podcast Empty Inside that she quit acting for a few reasons and is pursuing a different career in entertainment. “I quit a few years ago to try my hand and writing and directing—it’s going great,” she said, laughing. “I quit a few years ago because I initially didn’t want to do it. My mom put me in it when I was 6 and by sort of age, I guess, 10 or 11, I was the main financial support for my family. My family didn’t have a lot of money, and this was the way out, which I actually think was helpful in driving me to some degree of success.”

The actress went on to say her reason to walk away also centered around her family relationships. “Once I started to get the nerves under control was when I started to actually get some traction, but I ultimately quit after my mom passed away because with her death kind of died a lot of her ideas for my life, and that was its own journey, and a difficult one for sure,” McCurdy explained.

McCurdy became a household name for her iCarly character Sam Puckett. She worked alongside co-stars Miranda Cosgrove and Nathan Kress on the series from 2007 to 2012. McCurdy eventually brought the character back for Nickelodeon’s Sam and Cat. “My experience with acting is, I’m so ashamed of the parts I’ve done in the past,” she continued. “I resent my career in a lot of ways. I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played and felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing. I did the shows that I was on from like 13 to 21, and by 15, I was already embarrassed. My friends at 15, they’re not like, ‘Oh, cool, you’re on this Nickelodeon show.’ It was embarrassing. And I imagine there’s a very different experience to be had with acting if you’re proud of your roles and if you feel fulfilled by them.”

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Many may remember the long-running rumors regarding Dan Schneider’s questionable behavior with some of the young stars cast in his various shows on Nickelodeon like Victoria Justice, Cosgrove, Jamie Lynn Spears, and others. Nickelodeon eventually cut ties with the producer in 2018.

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Clearly the memory hasn’t left for some of McCurdy’s fans. “She has every right to not return to the show,” this user wrote. 

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Also not returning for another reboot: Kim Cattrall. While Cattrall hasn’t publicly explained her absence from the forthcoming HBO Max series, she’s never hidden the fact that she and her some of her cast members weren’t exactly the best of friends. 

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For some fans, a reboot doesn’t seem to be a good idea due to “how bad this show traumatized Jennette McCurdy.” 

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How Paramount+ could successfully imagine an iCarly without McCurdy is the question on other fans’ minds. 

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“Learning that Jennette McCurdy hates and hated working on iCarly rlly [sic] saddens me because she’s so good in it,” this user shared. 

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Many fans advocated for the actress, asking others to “stop begging for Jennette McCurdy to come back as Sam,” claiming the request is insensitive.