Former Zoey 101 star Alexa Nikolas is calling on Nickelodeon to start protecting its child stars. The now 30-year-old actress led a protest outside of Nickelodeon's Burbank, California headquarters on Thursday, telling TMZ that she didn't feel safe during her time on the network.
Nikolas posted a 15-minute video of the protest to her Instagram account, showcasing protestors' signs—several directly referencing or naming Dan Schneider—and speaking to her own experiences with the disgraced longtime Nickelodeon producer. The actress, who was only 12 years old when she was cast as Nicole Bristow on Zoey 101, called Schneider "the creator of childhood trauma" and said she did not feel safe around him.
"My own personal experience at Nickelodeon—as you can see, it says here that Nickelodeon didn't protect me," Nikolas said in the video, holding up her own sign. "I did not feel protected at Nickelodeon as a child, personally. I'm demanding that Nickelodeon starts protecting children and not predators."
The protest was organized as a part of Nikolas' Eat Predators advocacy, having founded the "survivor-led" organization in 2022 with the aim of calling out abuse within the entertainment industry and beyond.
Watch Nikolas' full video from Thursday's protest below:
Other Nickelodeon Alumni Speak to Unsafe and Uncomfortable Work Environment
Nikolas, who has previously spoken to the trauma she developed during her Nickelodeon years, is not the first former star to call out the uncomfortable and often illegal things they were subjected to as children.
In her recent autobiography I'm Glad My Mom Died, former iCarly star Jennette McCurdy detailed how she was given unwanted massages, influenced to drink alcohol—and later, offered $30,000 in hush money to not reveal any of the above. While McCurdy never specifically names Schneider, the memoir features an entity dubbed only "The Creator."
But it's quite obvious who the nameless, nefarious Creator is meant to be, and she says he should have been reprimanded sooner.
"The Creator has gotten in trouble from the network for accusations of his emotional abuse. I feel like it's been a long time coming, and should have happened a lot sooner," she wrote. "I appreciate the amount of trouble he's gotten in. It wasn't just a slap on the wrist sort of thing. It's to the point where he's no longer allowed to be on set with any actors."
Nickelodeon severed ties with Schneider in 2018.