In making many of these stories public for the first time, Quiet on Set is the latest project to expose the ways in which Hollywood enables child sexual abuse—and to call for industry reforms. The former actors speaking in the new series echo many of the sentiments expressed in Dear Hollywood, an incisive podcast by the former Disney Channel ingénue Alyson Stoner. Three years ago, Stoner wrote about a phenomenon they called the “toddler-to-trainwreck pipeline,” describing it as a profitable system that has continued apace since the 19th century by “censoring the harm happening behind the scenes, manicuring aspirational lifestyles and outcomes, and then watching young lives tragically implode.” In their writing and on their podcast, Stoner presents disturbing personal testimony and discusses issues that child stars face, such as the prevalence of eating disorders, fractured family dynamics, and the psychological toll of fame.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Child Abuse in Hollywood
Ed Morrissey
I haven't watched Quiet on Set yet, in part because I never watched these shows and know little about the people involved. But Nickelodeon is hardly the only place in Hollywood that has exploited children, emotionally and/or sexually. These scandals go far enough back that a deleted scene from The Godfather in 1972 depicted the aftermath of a rape of an adolescent actress by studio boss Jack Woltz (set in 1946 or 1947). The scene is in the Godfather Saga remix, and was in the original novel as well. In fact, Hagen's witnessing of that episode is what partly motivated the horse-head threat to Woltz in the book.
Hollywood goes through these mea culpas occasionally, but then returns to the status quo. Hopefully. Quiet on Set will break that pattern, but I'm skeptical.
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