Jennette McCurdy is a former child actress who was once a Nickelodeon staple. She starred in iCarly and its spinoff series Sam And Cat alongside a then-unknown Ariana Grande, before leaving television altogether.
Since leaving the acting world, McCurdy has been open about her struggles growing up in the spotlight and having to support her family financially beginning at the age of 11. The former actress is gearing up to release her memoir I’m Glad My Mom Died, where she details alleged abuse and inappropriate behavior from a man she nicknamed The Creator. While he is never named in the book, McCurdy seems to imply that the man is the executive producer creator of iCarly, Zoey 101, Sam and Cat, Drake and Josh, and others. More on that shortly.
In a new excerpt from her book, McCurdy details her last few days working on Sam and Cat, when The Creator was allegedly not allowed on set with the actors after getting “in trouble” for alleged emotional abuse on set. McCurdy mentions her struggle with both an eating disorder and alcohol before retelling the story about the day her show was canceled, when she was offered money to not talk about her experience on set.
What the f*ck? Nickelodeon is offering me three hundred thousand dollars in hush money to not talk publicly about my experience on the show? My personal experience of The Creator’s abuse? This is a network with shows made for children. Shouldn’t they have some sort of moral compass? Shouldn’t they at least try to report to some sort of ethical standard?
Not only did the actress recall being offered money after the series, but she also goes into details about The Creator, who would allegedly offer her alcohol at age 18 and massage her.
“You’re about to star in your own TV show, for crying out loud. You know how many kids would kill for that opportunity? Every last one of them.”
I nod along. He reaches out and places his hand on my knee. I get goose bumps.
“You’re cold,” he says, concerned.
I don’t think that’s why I got the goose bumps, but I agree. It’s always best to agree with The Creator.
“Here, take my jacket.”
He takes his coat off and drapes it around me. He pats my shoulders and then the pat turns into a massage.
“Oof, you’re so tense!”
“Yeah . . .”
“Anyway, what was I saying?” he asks while he keeps massaging me.
My shoulders do have a lot of knots in them, but I don’t want The Creator to be the one rubbing them out. I want to say something, to tell him to stop, but I’m so scared of offending him.
While The Creator is never named, many are speculating that she is referring to Dan Schneider, who “parted ways” with Nickelodeon in 2018, after nearly two decades with the network. Sources told Page Six at the time that there were numerous complaints among his staff about his temper and how he treated young actresses.
According to the source: “Along with all his success, for years Schneider had been under a cloud of suspicion over the treatment of some younger stars of his shows. Among the things that have raised eyebrows are his tweeted photos of the toes of his young female stars . . . Schneider has had well-documented temper issues for years.”
Despite this, McCurdy never publicly named Schneider in her book, but it’s clear that working with the network traumatized her for most of her childhood, as she would often chronicle in her 2013 Vines while filming the show.
She famously did not reprise her role as Sam in the 2021 iCarly revival and has been working on her career as a director instead.
I’m Glad My Mom Died is available on August 9.
