Latest news with #QuietonSet:TheDarkSideofKidsTV
Indian Express
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Meena Kumari was thrown out of the house she bought by her father, paid him Rs 2 lakh to get married; was treated as a ‘meal ticket' by her family
There's a certain sense of tragedy that haunts a child who starts facing the camera at a particularly young age. Even before they know their alphabets, they are mugging up paragraphs of dialogues; before they can make friends, they are required to be professional. The children are treated as employees by their parents and the guardian who is supposed to provide them with a safe space ends up pushing them in an environment which is generally regarded as unsafe. One wonders if it is just money, or the idea of fame and fortune that makes adults push their toddlers into a business which is infamous for more reasons that can be listed here; or if it is the sheer insensitivity that causes parents to look the other way as little kids collapse under circumstances that lead to harassment, sexual or otherwise. Documentaries like Finding Neverland, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Child Star examined how irresponsible parents conveniently ignored their kids as they were being swallowed by their unkind atmosphere. Closer home, actors like Daisy Irani, Rekha, Madhubala faced uncomfortable situations on film sets in their younger years, as their parents forced them to continue working in the movies. 'Tragedy Queen' Meena Kumari had a similar start as she started working in the movies as a 4-year-old, and soon became the sole caretaker of her entire clan. Meena Kumari, who was born as Mahjabeen, to parents Ali Bux and Iqbal Begum in a chawl in Dadar, Mumbai (now Bombay) in 1933, was thrown in front of a camera at the age of 4. Her older sister Khursheed was already making a living wage as a child actor, as their father dragged them from one studio to another in search of the next job. Ali was a musician, and had moved from Pakistan to Mumbai, leaving behind his first wife and three other daughters. He married Iqbal Begum, who was previously a Hindu named Prabhavati, and was related to the family of Rabindranath Tagore, and had three daughters – Khursheed, Meena and Madhu. It is said that Ali was unhappy when Meena was born and some reports even claim that he left her outside an orphanage, but no one could ever verify that. Their chawl was next to an orphanage and perhaps, that led to this rumour. Meena was an innocent four year old when she faced the camera for the first time and was completely unaware that she had gotten on a ride that would never stop. In the book, Meena Kumari – the Classic Biography, by Vinod Mehta, she was quoted saying, 'The first day I trotted along to work, I little imagined that I was saying goodbye to the normal pleasantries of childhood. I thought I would go to the studio for a few days and then go to school, learn a few things and play and make merry like other children. But that was not to be.' Ali was never in favour of sending his daughters to school as he believed that this was an unnecessary expense, and so he put all his daughters to work as kids. Before they knew it, the girls became the providers of the household and Ali continued to run a tight ship, where none of the three girls were allowed to make any decisions for themselves. For her first film Leather Face with director Vijay Bhatt, Meena was paid Rs 25, and Ali knew that Meena was going to be the moneymaker. In a chat with RSTV, Vinod said, 'She became the meal ticket. She didn't have a normal childhood. And from the age of 6-7, she was just being hopped around from place to place as a child artiste and the money that she made, the family survived on that.' Three girls under the age of 15 made enough money that the family pulled itself out of their chawl, and moved into a house at Bandra's Chapel Road, and Ali had completely immersed himself in managing their careers. Iqbal Begum gave up her career as a dancer after she had a lung infection that eventually turned into cancer, and Ali gave up on his career as a musician. ALSO READ | Nargis' brother beat her up because of her relationship with Raj Kapoor; she lost money, opportunities while he set up his studio Ali and Iqbal had married for love but it went out of the window after the family faced abject poverty. As per Mehta's book, their marriage was successful, but only on paper. The parents were always quarrelling about money in front of their daughters, and from a very young age, they were made aware that one's existence was solely dependent on the money they made. Meena wanted to study but there was never enough money in the house to indulge her wishes. With the help of some tutors, Meena learnt to read and whenever she got a chance, she found a book and sat in a corner. She was quoted in Mehta's book saying, 'My one interest was to read and when other children in the studio went out to play in the compound, I moved into a corner and lost myself in the world of children's books.' Meena started appearing in more films – Ek Hi Bhool, Pooja – and she also started her career as a playback singer. She recorded her first song in a film called Behan in 1941, and continued to work as an actor. While Meena was taught to be an obedient worker on set, she sometimes acted like a child on set. After all, she was one. 'I remember once I was 'shot' on the sets and asked to drop down dead. I refused to fall and they had to use force to make me obey,' she said. ALSO READ | Meena Kumari's family did not even have Rs 3500 to pay at the hospital after she died, doctor paid the bill Meena's older sister got married and dropped out of the movies, and by this time, Meena was a grown up, who was starting to play the heroine. She had been financially independent for years, but she had never tasted independence for herself. The first time that Meena got a chance to be her own person was when she decided to marry Kamal Amrohi. She knew Ali would never agree to her wedding so she and Kamal decided to keep it a secret until she could gather Rs 2 lakh and present it to her father. When Ali got to know, he forced her to separate, but she relented. Meena continued to live in her father's house for another year and he never asked her to leave for she was making the money that supported this family. Until one day, when Meena decided to work in a movie with Kamal Amrohi, while simultaneously rejecting a proposal presented by her father. He shut the doors of his house, which was bought by her, on her face, and never allowed her to come back. As per Mehta, she wrote him a letter which read, 'Babujee, whatever has happened I have left. Please do not talk about going to court. That would be childish. I desire nothing from your house except my clothes and books. This car I now have I will send to you tomorrow. My clothes, etc., you can send when you find it convenient.' Meena's tragedies began when she was a little girl, and they always followed her like a shadow. Ali Bux pushed her into a world that completely consumed her and the good daughter that she was, she continued to support everyone around her until the end, even though those favours were never returned. Sampada Sharma has been the Copy Editor in the entertainment section at Indian Express Online since 2017. ... Read More
Perth Now
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Drake Bell claims Nickelodeon doesn't pay residuals to former child stars
Drake Bell has blasted Nickelodeon for allegedly not paying residuals to child stars. The 39-year-old actor and musician - who appeared on shows like The Amanda Show and spinoff sitcom Drake and Josh for the network - has claimed that unlike of the deals reached with most adults performers, his early contacts involved one-off payments, which means he doesn't get any money from streaming or syndication. He told The Unplanned Podcast: "That's the perception of the world, it's always been this way. "It's like, you know, 'Oh, you made a Folgers Coffee commercial. You must live in a mansion in Hollywood. Like, I saw you on TV. You're rich.' 'That's far from the case. And especially, which is the bummer for most of us on Nickelodeon, we don't get residuals for our shows.' The star - who previously opened up about his childhood trauma and struggles in 2024 docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV - pointed out how he doesn't get any money despite Drake and Josh's recent move to Netflix. He claimed: "It's a lot of evil, corrupt people. That's the only thing, that is the answer. There's no other answer. 'Do everything that they do to us mentally and emotionally, and then throw us to the wolves. And we're like, okay, cool. I got rent this month. "There are three channels doing marathons. Netflix just bought it, it's top 10 on Netflix, and I gotta figure out how to pay my rent this month." He pointed out how the cast of Friends are still able to earn huge amounts of money from re-runs of the classic sitcom. He said: 'The Friends cast at the peak was making a million dollars an episode. You make 13 episodes that year, you make $13,000,000. You make 20 episodes that year, you make $20,000,000, right? 'But right now, each cast member of Friends just in syndication alone is making over $20,000,000 a year, and they're not filming a show every week. "They're not going to work, but they're playing their show and they're using their likeness and they're doing all this, so they get paid for it.' He compared the studio's approach to the situation to "child labour", while addressing the lack of control young performers have. He added: 'People don't understand how the business works, the business side of this. They just see what the perception is on Instagram and social media and all the glitz and the glamour of Hollywood. 'We're putting in all of this work. This corporation is making billions with a 'B' off of us, and we're being compensated for the week of work, cool, but that's it. 'And forever, in perpetuity, it literally says in the contract, across universes and galaxies and planets.'
New York Times
16-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Kids, Inc.
The scenes leave a pit in your stomach. In Netflix's 'Bad Influence: The Dark Side of Kidfluencing,' two early teenagers are pressured to kiss by adults — a parent and a videographer — on camera. Hulu's 'The Devil in the Family: The Ruby Franke Story' shows the dramatic footage of Franke's 12-year-old son showing up at a neighbor's door with duct tape markings around his ankle, asking them to call police. The pair of documentaries, released this year, shine a light on the perils of child-centered online content. 'Bad Influence' examines claims of abuse and exploitation made by 11 former members of the teen YouTube collective 'The Squad' against Tiffany Smith — who ran the YouTube channel, which drew two million subscribers — and her former boyfriend Hunter Hill. Both denied the allegations, and the suit was settled for a reported $1.85 million last year. Ruby Franke, a mother of six, pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse in 2023 after denying her children adequate food and water and isolating them as she built a family YouTube channel that amassed nearly 2.5 million subscribers before it was taken down. She will serve up to 30 years in prison. Concerns about the treatment of child entertainers have abounded since the days of Judy Garland and through last year's 'Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,' in which former Nickelodeon actors described performing under harmful and sexually inappropriate conditions. Less examined is the working world of child influencers, who are now speaking out about the harsh, unsafe or emotionally taxing constraints of being broadcast by their parents. Viewers may be tempted to ask, 'Aren't there laws against this?' 'We have pretty documented evidence of the troubling pipeline for Hollywood and child actors, but we don't have nearly similar numbers for child influencers, primarily because the phenomenon of influencing is so young,' said Chris McCarty, the founder and executive director of Quit Clicking Kids, an organization dedicated to stopping the monetization of minors. 'A lot of the kids are too young to even really fully understand what's going on, let alone, like, actually speak out about their experiences.' Child entertainer laws — which in some cases make provisions for minors' education, set limits on working hours and stipulate that earnings be placed in a trust — regulate theatrical industries. The world of content creators, where an account with a sizable following can generate millions of dollars a year for creators, is largely unregulated. McCarty worked with the California legislature to draft an amendment to the Coogan Law, legislation passed in 1939 that requires employers to set aside 15 percent of a child actor's earnings in a trust. In September 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California signed Senate Bill 764, mandating that creators who feature children in 30 percent or more of their content set aside a proportioned percentage of their earnings into a trust for the child to access when they turn 18. The law went into effect this year and made California the third state (along with Illinois and Minnesota) to adopt financial protections for children featured in social media content. Some notable family vloggers uprooted from California for Tennessee in the immediate aftermath. The LaBrant family, whose YouTube (12.8 million subscribers) and TikTok content (the mother, Savannah, has 30.3 million followers) mainly revolves around their five young children, explained their move to Nashville in a post, saying 'We truly feel like this is where God is calling our family.' Brittany Xavier, a prominent TikTok creator with over 3 million followers whose content mostly showcases her three children, attributed her move to Nashville to finding mold in her family's California rental house. They did not respond to requests for comment, nor did they cite the new law as the reason for their departures, but commenters on their videos and on Reddit have speculated about whether the new legislation contributed to their moves. The amendment to the Coogan Law could be a starting point to more regulation. 'The law can also be expanded to make sure that kids have boundaries on their working hours and protections in terms of being guaranteed education,' said Mary Jean Amon, an assistant professor at Indiana University who specializes in research on parental sharing and beliefs about autonomy and consent. That might prove difficult given the lack of boundaries between work and home for child influencers. In 'The Devil in the Family,' the Franke children protested rarely having any time off from making content — outtakes from their vlogs showed one of the family's sons, Chad, who is now 20, being told to answer with more enthusiasm when he was tired and didn't want to be on camera. 'It felt more like a set than a house,' Shari Franke, 22, says in one scene in the documentary. 'For kid influencers, those cameras are ubiquitous since most of the adults around them will have one in hand at virtually all times,' Amon said. 'Rather than playing characters, child influencers are observed as themselves, while also being heavily rewarded for pandering to the desires of strangers, and sometimes they're punished for failing to do so.' Those follower-strangers represent a danger far more difficult to address. Deja Smith, a stay-at-home mother from the Houston area, creates lifestyle videos for Instagram and TikTok, where she has a following of about 140,000. She shared details and images of her newborn daughter for most of the first year of her life until strangers started recognizing her child in public and leaving upsetting comments on social media. After reading more about the ways users can manipulate children's images through artificial intelligence and search for personal information like an address through photos, she wiped images of her daughter from the internet altogether. 'I honestly feel uncomfortable watching other family vloggers' accounts that are centered around their kid,' Smith said. 'I'm not interested, and I block because I don't want to be a part of that or supporting that kind of content.'
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Drake Bell opens up to Josh Peck about sexual abuse allegations during Nickelodeon days
Millennials, rejoice: Drake & Josh are talking things out. One year after Drake Bell revealed in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV that he was sexually abused as a child actor during his Nickelodeon tenure, he appeared on his former co-star Josh Peck's podcast, Good Guys, co-hosted with Ben Soffer, to discuss the trauma, their hot-and-cold friendship and the show's legacy. 'This is going to be like therapy,' Bell said at the top of the episode, which premiered on March 24. Through the years, Bell and Josh have aired their grievances, with the takeaway being that while their names will forever be linked, their friendship — from working together as children on a show that debuted over 20 years ago (and The Amanda Show before that) — faded. During the conversation, they acknowledged that even while on Drake & Josh things were complicated as they navigated stardom, adolescence and Bell reporting Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck (no relation to Josh) for sexual abuse. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Drake Bell (@drakebell) 'There were times when we hung out a lot and we were close, and then there were times when, not for any reason, [we] just weren't,' Bell said. 'We were dealing with a lot of shit outside of our … working [relationship].' Bell explained that between The Amanda Show ending in 2002 and Drake & Josh premiering in 2004, he told his mother about being sexually assaulted by Brian Peck, who was 26 years his senior, and they went to police. During the investigation, Brian continued to come to the set — and teen Bell had to proceed like it was business as usual. 'When we shot the pilot, we were in the middle of the investigation, but nobody [knew] anything because Brian hadn't been arrested,' Bell said. 'The worst part about it [was] having the monster in [my] safe place,' on the set where he and Josh would 'goof around and put on our masks and wigs and makeup and make people laugh.' He continued, 'Every day I got there [and] the monster was there. … He's walking around set.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ben Soffer (@boywithnojob) So what should have been this great experience for them was just the opposite because of the background drama that was Bell's secret. 'I'm entering the Drake & Josh phase, where we should be … partners. This is our time. Let's do it. [But] I came back to the same stage, the same parking lot, the same dressing rooms… Everything's triggering,' Bell said. 'And in the back of my head the whole time I'm working on the pilot, I know that there's this investigation happening [and] this guy's about to get arrested [and] that shit is about to hit the fan and nobody in here knows it. And I'm 14 or 15.' Bell said he 'was losing my hair' and had 'golf-ball size scabs' on his head from the stress. Josh said because he didn't know what was happening, 'I was just looking at it through the prism of a 14-year old's brain going: 'Ah, he doesn't want much to do with me.'' Brian pleaded no contest to performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old and oral copulation with a minor under 16 in 2004. At his sentencing, Brian had a room of supporters and had submitted about 40 letters from well-known people in the industry attesting to his good character, which made Bell feel even more alone and confused. The identity of the minor 'John Doe' was mostly a secret. Josh, who was also largely in the dark, talked about not knowing what to make of Brian, who had been 'everpresent' on the set, suddenly disappearing. (Brian served 18 months in prison.) 'I didn't know anything except I had a feeling something happened,' Josh said. 'I remember we're in the car … and I said: 'Do you still talk to Brian?' And you just looked at me [and said] 'No, Brian's a really bad guy.' And I remember thinking, 'Gotcha.' It was all that I needed to know.' Josh talked about their being 'many inappropriate things' going on in the kid-centric workplace and an overall 'lack of protection.' Josh said it was 'absolutely insane' that those types of things 'could have been allowed in any respect. At 14, I remember going, This relationship is inappropriate.' However, Josh said there were 'so many microinfractions … that you would see on set in a day and just go, I don't know that that would be cool anywhere else, but here, yeah. And so when you had tyrannical bosses or just people acting inappropriately, I think the assumption was in Hollywood this was just kind of part of it.' They talked about how, despite the backstage goings-on, the show they created as kids holds up in many ways and how they feel fortunate they were able to make it, but you couldn't avoid the downside. 'There's also the truth of everything you went through and everything that was an experience for a kid that was unacceptable in so many ways,' Josh said. He continued, 'I remember people would ask me about the show [in the years after it ended] and I would say, 'Well, I lost 100 pounds and had to get sober at 21. Did I seem happy? It's a bit of a sign.' But [I also think]: How much do I just keep this to myself and allow this wonderful memory for people to just continue to exist?' Bell said he also wrestles with that but doesn't want what happened to him to ruin the show, which he holds close to his heart. 'I had a lot of people reaching out, [saying], 'Oh, don't worry, Drake, we'll never watch the show ever again [because we know] what you were going through while you were making [it],' he said. 'I'm like: Whoa, whoa. No, no, no, no, no. When [it was] lights, camera, action and I walk in and Josh is wearing a dress, that … was where I actually was comfortable and happy and stoked. I'm very proud of what we did. I loved the show.' Josh added, 'It was very special — and you can't re-create it.' Part one of the interview is now available; part two will follow on March 27. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available. RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is here for survivors 24/7 with free, anonymous help. (4673) and
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Drake Bell opens up to Josh Peck about sexual abuse allegations during Nickelodeon days
Millennials, rejoice: Drake & Josh are talking things out. One year after Drake Bell revealed in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV that he was sexually abused as a child actor during his Nickelodeon tenure, he appeared on his former co-star Josh Peck's podcast, Good Guys, co-hosted with Ben Soffer, to discuss the trauma, their hot-and-cold friendship and the show's legacy. 'This is going to be like therapy,' Bell said at the top of the episode, which premiered on March 24. Through the years, Bell and Josh have aired their grievances, with the takeaway being that while their names will forever be linked, their friendship — from working together as children on a show that debuted over 20 years ago (and The Amanda Show before that) — faded. During the conversation, they acknowledged that even while on Drake & Josh things were complicated as they navigated stardom, adolescence and Bell reporting Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck (no relation to Josh) for sexual abuse. 'There were times when we hung out a lot and we were close, and then there were times when, not for any reason, [we] just weren't,' Bell said. 'We were dealing with a lot of shit outside of our … working [relationship].' Bell explained that between The Amanda Show ending in 2002 and Drake & Josh premiering in 2004, he told his mother about being sexually assaulted by Brian Peck, who was 26 years his senior, and they went to police. During the investigation, Brian continued to come to the set — and teen Bell had to proceed like it was business as usual. 'When we shot the pilot, we were in the middle of the investigation, but nobody [knew] anything because Brian hadn't been arrested,' Bell said. 'The worst part about it [was] having the monster in [my] safe place,' on the set where he and Josh would 'goof around and put on our masks and wigs and makeup and make people laugh.' He continued, 'Every day I got there [and] the monster was there. … He's walking around set.' So what should have been this great experience for them was just the opposite because of the background drama that was Bell's secret. 'I'm entering the Drake & Josh phase, where we should be … partners. This is our time. Let's do it. [But] I came back to the same stage, the same parking lot, the same dressing rooms… Everything's triggering,' Bell said. 'And in the back of my head the whole time I'm working on the pilot, I know that there's this investigation happening [and] this guy's about to get arrested [and] that shit is about to hit the fan and nobody in here knows it. And I'm 14 or 15.' Bell said he 'was losing my hair' and had 'golf-ball size scabs' on his head from the stress. Josh said because he didn't know what was happening, 'I was just looking at it through the prism of a 14-year old's brain going: 'Ah, he doesn't want much to do with me.'' Brian pleaded no contest to performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old and oral copulation with a minor under 16 in 2004. At his sentencing, Brian had a room of supporters and had submitted about 40 letters from well-known people in the industry attesting to his good character, which made Bell feel even more alone and confused. The identity of the minor 'John Doe' was mostly a secret. Josh, who was also largely in the dark, talked about not knowing what to make of Brian, who had been 'everpresent' on the set, suddenly disappearing. (Brian served 18 months in prison.) 'I didn't know anything except I had a feeling something happened,' Josh said. 'I remember we're in the car … and I said: 'Do you still talk to Brian?' And you just looked at me [and said] 'No, Brian's a really bad guy.' And I remember thinking, 'Gotcha.' It was all that I needed to know.' Josh talked about their being 'many inappropriate things' going on in the kid-centric workplace and an overall 'lack of protection.' Josh said it was 'absolutely insane' that those types of things 'could have been allowed in any respect. At 14, I remember going, This relationship is inappropriate.' However, Josh said there were 'so many microinfractions … that you would see on set in a day and just go, I don't know that that would be cool anywhere else, but here, yeah. And so when you had tyrannical bosses or just people acting inappropriately, I think the assumption was in Hollywood this was just kind of part of it.' They talked about how, despite the backstage goings-on, the show they created as kids holds up in many ways and how they feel fortunate they were able to make it, but you couldn't avoid the downside. 'There's also the truth of everything you went through and everything that was an experience for a kid that was unacceptable in so many ways,' Josh said. He continued, 'I remember people would ask me about the show [in the years after it ended] and I would say, 'Well, I lost 100 pounds and had to get sober at 21. Did I seem happy? It's a bit of a sign.' But [I also think]: How much do I just keep this to myself and allow this wonderful memory for people to just continue to exist?' Bell said he also wrestles with that but doesn't want what happened to him to ruin the show, which he holds close to his heart. 'I had a lot of people reaching out, [saying], 'Oh, don't worry, Drake, we'll never watch the show ever again [because we know] what you were going through while you were making [it],' he said. 'I'm like: Whoa, whoa. No, no, no, no, no. When [it was] lights, camera, action and I walk in and Josh is wearing a dress, that … was where I actually was comfortable and happy and stoked. I'm very proud of what we did. I loved the show.' Josh added, 'It was very special — and you can't re-create it.' Part one of the interview is now available; part two will follow on March 27. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, help is available. RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is here for survivors 24/7 with free, anonymous help. (4673) and
