Former “Big Bang Theory” star and “Jeopardy” host Mayim Bialik might be a big name now, but she’s seen the dark side of the business.
During a conversation on her podcast “The Breakdown” with two of her former colleagues from her days working on the hit NBC series “Blossom,” Bialik spoke about the toxicity of the Hollywood/television culture.
Bialik, 48, shared her insights after watching the Investigation Discovery docuseries, “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” and opened up about her experiences, particularly after explosive allegations against American TV producer and screenwriter Dan Schneider.
Schneider, who was once described as Nickelodeon’s “golden boy,” faced allegations of misconduct and abusive behavior while overseeing some of Nickelodeon’s most prominent shows from 1994 to 2019, according to USA Today.
Schneider’s shows included popular hits like “iCarly” and “Victorious.”
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“I hate to admit it,” Bialik said on her podcast while speaking with her two former colleagues Jenna von Oÿ and Christy Carlson Romano. “Women being berated in the writers’ room is something that was just like — I’m sorry — it was considered in — I mean, I hate to say it — it was considered par for the course. I will say I do not believe that happened in our writers’ room.”
“The Big Bang Theory” actress, whose acting career began when she was 12, continued, “There were things that we all thought were OK to even joke about which now, we’d be mortified. I think that was one of the most devastating parts of this.”
In “Quiet on the Set,” child star Drake Bell — who is now 37 — spoke about how was a victim of severe sexual abuse by a former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck during Season 2 of “The Amanda Show,” according to USA Today.
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In 2004, Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison for his sexual abuse against Drake; since his release, he has been required to register as a sex offender, according to People.
After “Quiet on Set” aired, Bell shared on TikTok that he wrote his song “In the End,” from his 2005 album “Telegraph,” about the sexual abuse he endured.
“Wrote this song when I was 15 about what happened before I said anything to anyone,” he wrote on a caption from the TikTok video.
@kenz_today Wrote this song when I was 15 #song #memories #foryou #fyp ♬ original sound – kenz..
Bialik, most recently on TV as a host for the venerable game show “Jeopardy,” expressed relief she never experienced the kind of abuse others in the industry have, but she also made a disturbing observation about how prevalent such activity was.
“To have been spared that kind of trauma, and to know that it was going on, and that it was going on right under our noses,” Bialik said. “And not only was it going on, it was going on with people being hired on other shows after being convicted. Like, this was so much a part of an acceptable way to run a business.”
“That felt like the most devastating thing and it wan’t just happening at Nickelodeon.”
She added, “the real shock was that this type of behavior was not only happening but was accepted in the industry and involved people who continued to find work even after convictions.”
This isn’t the first incident of sexual abuse in the entertainment industry to surface.
Hollywood is rife with incidents of sexual abuse; many of them covered up for fear of retaliation. Sadly, some people looking to rise in the ranks throughout the industry also volunteer to engage in such activity due to belief that it will elevate their positions, which directly feeds the grotesque cycle.
In 2019, as Vox reported at the time, filmmaker Bryan Singer was accused by four men of sexual misconduct with them in the 1990s. The men said they met Singer when they were in their teens — one was an actor on one of his sets, the other three were part of Singer’s partying circles.
That same year, Singer settled a lawsuit for $150,000 with Cesar Sanchez-Guzman, who accused Singer of raping him in 2003 when Sanchez-Guzman was 17.
Perhaps most infamously, former film producer and co-founder of Miramax Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault in 2020. Weinstein has faced numerous allegations from women accusing him of sexual misconduct, harassment, and assault.
These allegations helped fuel the #MeToo movement, bringing attention to sexual abuse in various industries.
