‘iCarly’ star Jennette McCurdy rips Nickelodeon: My childhood was ‘exploited’

Jennette McCurdy opens up about her childhood traumas. 

McCurdy revealed she was “exploited” when she was a child actor on Nickelodeon’s “iCarly” and “Sam & Cat.” 

According to the New York Times she claims her overbearing mother, and the television industry are to blame for her “failed protection.”

McCurdy stated that “my entire childhood and adolescence was very exploited.” “…There were cases where people had the best intentions and maybe didn’t know what they were doing. And also cases where they did — they knew exactly what they were doing.”

‘ICARLY STAR JENNETTE McCURDY REPORTS PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL ABUSES FROM MOTHER DURING CHILDHOOD

McCurdy was 16 and was entering her third season of the hit teen sitcom “iCarly,” in which she played the comedy character Sam Puckett. 

The former actress gets candid in her new memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” in which she details her toxic relationship with her mother and her tumultuous time on Nickelodeon. 

According to the New York Times, McCurdy, 30, wrote in her memoir about embarrassing moments on the children’s television network when she was asked to be “photographed in a bikini during a wardrobe fitting and being encouraged to drink alcohol by an intimidating figure she simply calls the Creator.”

McCurdy stated that even though her mother was there, she did not interject or instruct her daughter about this “cost of showbiz success”.

According to her, she told her daughter, “Everyone wants what I have.”

Jennette McCurdy gets candid in her new memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” where she details her toxic relationship with her mother and her tumultuous time on Nickelodeon.
(Getty Images)

In McCurdy’s memoir, which will be published on Aug. 9, she recounted auditioning for acting roles at the age of 6 and being “shepherded” into the work by her controlling mother. She also revealed that she had obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), eating disorders, anxiety. McCurdy believed that she owed her loyalty and control over her entire life to her mother. 

After McCurdy starred on “iCarly,” Nickelodeon promised her a spinoff series of her own, but walked back on their offer and made Ariana Grande a co-lead on “Sam & Cat.” 

Jennette Mcurdy and Ariana Grande were co-stars on Nickelodeon’s “Sam and Cat.”
(Getty Images)

McCurdy claims she felt stifled by the network, as they discouraged McCurdy from looking into other careers. Grande did not seem to follow these rules.

“What finally undid me was when Ariana came whistle-toning in with excitement because she had spent the previous evening playing charades at Tom Hanks’s house. McCurdy wrote, “That was the moment that I broke.” 

“Sam & Cat” aired for only one season during 2013-2014, and after the show’s cancellation, Nickelodeon offered the former actress $300,000 to keep her experiences at the network private, McCurdy said. McCurdy declined the offer. 

Despite Miranda Cosgrove’s claim that McCurdy and she became fast friends on “iCarly”, she didn’t realize the hardships McCurdy had to face in her own life. 

“When you’re young, you’re so in your own head,” Cosgrove told the New York Times. “You can’t imagine that people around you are having much harder struggles.”

Cosgrove noted, “You don’t expect things like that from the person in the room who’s making everyone laugh.”

Nickelodeon did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.