Kenan Thompson Reacts to 'Quiet on Set' Nickelodeon Documentary: 'Tough to Watch'

Kenan Thompson is the latest former Nickelodeon star to speak out about the Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries. Before becoming the longest-tenured cast member on Saturday Night Live, Thompson starred on All That and Kenan & Kel on the children's network. Although he did not speak during the Investigation Discovery documentary, some of his All That co-stars participated, such as Katrina Johnson.

Via People, Thompson appeared on the Tamron Hall Show and was asked about the documentary, which exposes the toxic work environment behind the scenes on Nickelodeon shows that includes racism, sexism, and abuse. While Thompson starred on All That, which was produced by Dan Schneider, who was also in the Good Burger movie, he didn't really work with him that often.

"It's tough for me because I can't really speak on things that I've never witnessed," Thompson shared. "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 overly overlapping like that outside of All That, necessarily. So I wasn't really aware of a lot of it, but my heart goes out to anybody that's been victimized or their families."

The documentary currently has four episodes out, which are available to stream on Max and include stories from multiple child stars and former employees telling their own stories about their experiences, including The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh star Drake Bell, who opened up about being sexually abused. Kenan Thompson explained the importance of the documentary but expressed his disappointment for the company he holds fond memories of.

"I think it's a good thing that he doc is out and is putting things on display that need to be – stories that need to be told for accountability but it's definitely tough to watch because I have fond memories of that place," Thompson said. "And I have fond memories of my costars and stuff like that, so, to hear that they've gone through terrible things like that, it's just, it's really tough."

Drake & Josh's Josh Peck also previously spoke out about the documentary after finding out what his co-star went through. While Bell came to Peck's defense for initially staying silent, Peck later gave a statement, confirming that he did reach out to Bell privately. There is set to be at least one more episode from Quiet on Set premiering on Apr. 7 on ID, and while it will likely be another hard watch, it is definitely necessary. The first four episodes of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV are streaming on Max.