Amanda Bynes’ Personal, Professional Fallout ‘All Really Started’ With Dan Schneider, Megyn Kelly Says
Megyn Kelly has seen Investigation Discovery’s blockbuster docuseries “Quiet on Set,” and she’s not holding back on her opinion about it.
The conservative podcast host had “Zoey 101” star and documentary subject Alexa Nikolas on Wednesday’s episode of “The Megyn Kelly Show,” and while she may not be the first person to blame embattled Nickelodeon producer and creator Dan Schneider for various child stars’ personal and professional struggles since his 1990s and 2000s reign, her words hit hard as Nikolas herself described a work environment that “became, essentially, childhood trauma.”
Particularly in regards to one-time wunderkind Amanda Bynes, Kelly said that the actress’ “mental health problems” and “heartbreaking,” widely publicized demons “all really started when Dan Schneider found her and she got cast with her own show on Nickelodeon.”
“That explains a lot, right?” Kelly said of Nikolas’ calculation that working for the network was traumatic. “Because we’ve seen what happens to, not just the stars of Nickelodeon, but child stars in general don’t have a great track record of growing up to be perfectly healthy onscreen actors.”
That’s when the host pivoted to Bynes.
“You know, poor Amanda Bynes is probably the best example, and she indeed was a Nickelodeon star. I actually didn’t even realize that, to be honest with you. I just knew her when she hit the big screen as this incredibly talented actress,” Kelly explained. “And today, I mean, that poor girl has had so many mental health problems, she looks nothing like her former self. And those clips of her are heartbreaking because it all really started when Dan Schneider found her and she got cast with her own show on Nickelodeon.”
Kelly concluded: “She was extremely talented. But the environment was not conducive toward wellness.”
Schneider previously addressed his personal relationship with Bynes in a video interview published online in the days following the initial debut of “Quiet on Set.”
Defending his relationship with the network star, particularly after she ran away from home, the producer said he “supported” her desire to be emancipated from her parents and that when she left home in the middle of the night, he “called someone that I knew was fairly nearby.”
“That person was able to go and pick her up. I knew she was safe, I felt better. She ended up being taken to the police,” he said.
