During his May 15 appearance on Club Shay Shay, Kel Mitchell recalled his time as a former Nickelodeon child star and how a run-in with disgraced producer Dan Schneider jump-started his depression.
While discussing the disrespect and mistreatment he faced during his late teenage years on the children’s network, Mitchell specifically pointed to Dan Schneider as an executive who treated him so poorly that he struggled with suicidal thoughts.
He went on to reveal how his career took a sharp downturn, leading to a temporary departure from Nickelodeon in 2000.
This shift was prompted when he and the “Kenan & Kel” show’s executive writer, producer, and network golden child made a change in content direction that he didn’t agree with. Without going into detail, Mitchell says he made a public protest that ended in him being singled out, disrespected, and essentially bullied.
Mitchell explained the conflict between him and Schneider when Sharpe asked how difficult it was for him to navigate Nickelodeon without strong mentorship or management.
After doing shows from 1994-1998, he was starting to be aware of not only his personal brand but also taking ownership of the characters that he had pitched and the network incorporated into their stable of skits.
At 19, he said, “I was creating these characters even within auditions, you know what I mean. So, I love these characters, but I had to realize … I don’t own these characters. I don’t own the show. These are people that work within the business.”
“I remember there was a point where one of the execs and one of the head writers,” Mitchell said. “[The] show started to change a little bit. You know, the writing of the show started to change, and I didn’t like the direction it was going in.”
According to the 45-year-old, he “started butting heads” with the writer and recalls getting “upset in front of everybody. [Schneider] took me to room, and he said some real derogatory things and went off.”
“I mean, me being from the South Side of Chicago, in that thought process, it was like, OK, either I could put hands on him or we could go argue. This not going to end well.”
While Mitchell was legally over 18 and considered an adult, he still did not have the skill set or emotional capacity to counter his boss. As a result, he said he walked off the set, costing the studio money for holding up the production.
He said that he now regrets how he conducted himself but contends he “felt disrespected about what was said and how it was said.”
After that, Mitchell said the work was no longer fun and had become “really a job” to him.
He explained, “I called my pops, and when that happened with the producer, I’m upset, and he was like, ‘Hey … did he disrespect you as a man? How do you feel? The man I am today, I should have told my dad, ‘Yeah, come on now.’”
Instead of telling his father to come, he said, “No, it’s all good. I’ll handle it.”
Mitchell said he never told anyone about the details of his dispute with Schneider, naming him at the 59-minute mark, but notes that it shifted their work relationship. This, coupled with his personal problems with becoming a young father, made him start to crack internally, despite keeping a funny disposition for the sake of the network.
“I’m explaining this to you because I want people to understand the mindset of what might happen to young actors and the things that they’re going through,” Mitchell said. “You know, we see it all the time, the suicide rate with actors and what goes on. I was friends with a lot of the actors that are not here anymore,” said Mitchell.
“I’ve been on ‘Good Morning America’ and these different interviews and shows and, uh, telling people about suicidal thoughts and emotions that you might go through [as a child actor], and I never really pinpointed who the person was or who it is,” he said to the host.
This revelation comes after Schneider has been under fierce scrutiny since the premiere of the “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” documentary exploring the mistreatment of other child stars at Nickelodeon.
Dan Schneider is suing the producers of ‘Quiet On Set’ for defamation, TMZ reports.
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 1, 2024
He claims they falsely portrayed him as a child sexual abuser, allegedly using manipulative editing techniques to create a false impression of him. pic.twitter.com/CnPxZV8cYd
The documentary shed light on allegations of abuse on sets of several shows produced and written by Schneider. Schneider faced accusations of fostering a toxic work environment and engaging in inappropriate behavior with young actors, including 10-year-old Amanda Bynes, such as receiving back rubs from the child star. Moreover, he was accused of penning sexually suggestive jokes for his young actors like Ariana Grande, coupled with inappropriate visuals.
Another young female actor on Nickelodeon at the time, Lori Beth Denberg, has recently claimed Schneider not only fondled her breasts but also showed her porn and initiated phone sex with her. The now-48-year-old starred in “All That” for four seasons between 1994 and 1998.
“I feel like that is the first time he preyed on me,” she said in an interview with the Business Insider, including showing her a woman performing a sex act on a donkey.
Denberg was 17 years old when she first started working with Schneider, but their relationship did not turn sexual until she was 19. By the time she was 20 or 21, he had fondled and put her breasts in his mouth. When this was happening, she thought it was OK because she was older than 18. She discounted the power dynamic and possible grooming that took place on set.
Schneider has commented on Denberg’s accusation in a statement, calling them “exaggerated” but also saying, “If I did that with respect to Lori Beth, I sincerely apologize to her.”
Here is the original cast of All That! I can spot Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell, Amanda Bynes & Lori Beth Denberg pic.twitter.com/I2nuUfPx
— catsu (@curlpaper) February 14, 2013
Mitchell’s co-star, Kenan Thompson, has a different memory of Schneider and does not recall him being hands-on with the show.
“It’s a tough subject, you know, because it’s tough for me. I can’t really speak on things that I never witnessed, you know what I’m saying? ‘Cause all these things happened after I left, basically, and Dan wasn’t really on ‘Kenan and Kel’ like that,” Thompson said.
He did not dispute the allegations against Schneider or discount the accounts of the actors who spoke out in the docu-series, including the multiple African-American actors who said they felt discriminated against.
“My heart goes out to, you know, anybody that’s been victimized or their families, you know what I mean?” he continued.
Mitchell takes full accountability for people around him not knowing about what he’s saying Schneider did. He said outside of sharing with his father, he kept everything that was going on in his life bottled up, which led to him becoming suicidal.
Now, Mitchell’s career is on the upturn and his personal life is steady. He is currently a working actor and is a pastor.
