Kel Mitchell says Dan Schneider yelled “wild stuff” at him in a closet
Mitchell worked with Schneider when the writer came aboard his show, All That
Aux News Kel Mitchell
Kel Mitchell, star of ‘90s Nickelodeon shows All That and Kenan & Kel, has his own allegations against disgraced Nickelodeon writer Dan Schneider to add to the ever–growing pile. The main incident for Mitchell happened on the set of All That when he was 18 or 19 years old, when Schneider had taken over head writing duties from original co-creator Brian Robbins. He shared his story in a recent conversation with Keke Palmer on her podcast, Baby, This Is Keke Palmer.
“The vibe of the show started to change a little bit,” Mitchell said, noting that he’d loved his character for a long time now, and didn’t like the direction the writing was going. “Me and [Schneider] kind of bump heads a little bit,” he added.
“I remember me and Dan had a big argument on set,” he said. “He was like, ‘Let’s go over here to this room right here, in this closet.’ He closed the door and he just took off, you know, just yelling all this wild stuff… Being an adult at this point, I had a decision to make, you know what I mean? I was just like, ‘Okay, either we are going to fight or either I’m going to leave. And so that’s what I did. I left the situation.”
While neither Mitchell nor his Kenan & Kel co-star, Kenan Thompson, participated in the Quiet On Set documentary that brought allegations of Schneider’s abuse to the forefront, Thompson has commented on it on multiple occasions. In a March interview, the Saturday Night Live star said, “It’s tough for me because I can’t really speak on things that I never witnessed… all these things happened after I left, basically. Dan wasn’t really on Kenan & Kel like that.”
“My heart goes out to anybody that’s been victimized, or their families. I think it’s a good thing that the doc is out and it’s putting things on display, stories that need to be told for accountability’s sake. 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,” Thompson continued at the time, before retracting some of his statement in a later Variety interview: “I feel so guilty saying [I have fond memories of Nickelodeon]. All those things started happening after our tenure, because, I guess, no one would even dare. It wasn’t that kind of environment.”
Earlier this week, Victorious star Ariana Grande also weighed in on her personal history with the network, saying she was still “reprocessing” the whole thing. “I think the environment needs to be made safer if kids are going to be acting, and I think there should be therapists,” she said. “If anyone wants to do this, or music, or anything at this level of exposure, there should be in the contract something about therapy is mandatory twice a week or thrice a week, or something like that.”
6 Comments
Wait, was this a South Park episode?
I was just reading comments When someone referenced the episode called “Trapped In The Closet”Man, that was some crazy shitSo then I pulled out my gun!
Don’t cap any bitches now!
I kind of feel like arguing with the director/head writer and having the argument continue in private isn’t quite “Dan Schneider” worthy. Not that a boss should yell at employees, but I got chewed out by a boss or two back in the 90s because I didn’t want to do something I was asked to do.
I don’t know what Thompson is supposed to do or say here, and what he has said has been pretty fair in threading a difficult needle. Sometimes crazy shit happens and you just don’t see it. Maybe you aren’t the target of it, maybe you didn’t notice, whatever. So when people speak to their experience, the best you can do, if you’re being honest is say something along the lines of “that wasn’t my experience, I have fond memories of it all, but I believe and have sympathy for those who say they were abused and I’m glad light is being shed on their story.” That doesn’t make you a bad person or even mean you’re directly contradicting someone else. This can be applied to a period of time, a period in your own life, a specific person, whatever. I’m at a point where I like to riminess on earlier chapters of my life and for me, the 90s were fucking awesome. And so I look back on that chapter for myself and even for the country really fondly. But I also know that it wasn’t awesome for everybody, and someone coming forward and saying “actually the 90s were really really terrible for me and my community” doesn’t make my own experience a lie nor does it mean their experience was untrue either. Same with individuals. Sometimes you’re own someone’s good side and sometimes you’re on someone’s bad side and sometimes you don’t even see the good or bad side. My mom had a really complicated relationship with her mom, my grandmother. I didn’t — it was pure love all the way. But my mom went through some emotional and verbal abuse there that left their mark. Whose experience is real?
It’s interesting that at least two other actors from “Head of the Class” were around for this shit early on. Either they left cuz they saw the toxicity of it, or the money fell off. Either way you don’t see either in the documentary.