Raquel Lee Bolleau Says She Has "Nothing Left" for Hollywood After ‘Quiet on Set' Experience

Raquel Lee Bolleau Says She Has “Nothing Left” for Hollywood After ‘Quiet on Set’ Experience

In a TikTok shared on Thursday, Nickelodeon’s Amanda Show alum Raquel Lee Bolleau, who was featured in Investigation Discovery’s docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of TV, says she was left disappointed by her experience with the docuseries about toxic sets at the kids TV network.

The doc’s directors, Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, were recently joined by participants Drake Bell, Giovannie Samuels, Bryan Christopher Hearne and co-executive producer Kate Taylor, for a panel conversation for an Emmys FYC event, moderated by Scaachi Koul, that explored the impact of what has become a hit docuseries for ID and streamer Max. The five-part series outlined allegations of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior involving underage stars and crewmembers on Nickelodeon TV show sets run by Dan Schneider.

“Do you think they invited me?” asked the former child star in her video, referencing the Los Angeles event.

Bolleau continued (watch, below), “Let me tell you what my problem is with this industry: Quiet on Set did the same thing the industry always does-they get what they want from you and then they’re done. Never did they think that I’d want to be part of a discussion like that.”

She said such treatment has been “a very difficult thing” for her to face, bringing up past wounds from her experience as a child actor. “This industry has done nothing but hurt me, left and right, since I was a child,” Bolleau said.

Another Quiet on Set participant, Marc Summers, former host of Double Dare, recently said he walked off the docuseries set. “They ambushed me,” he claimed. “They never told me what this documentary was really about. And so, they showed me a video of something that I couldn’t believe was on Nickelodeon and I said, ‘Whoah, let’s stop the tape right here. What are we doing?'”

The co-directors said in response via a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, “We are clear with each participant about the nature of our projects.”

In her video, Bolleau also claimed the directors did not tell her what the documentary would actually be focused on. “First of all, you don’t even tell me what type of documentary I’m going to be a part of,” she said. “You never questioned whether or not this is going to be triggering for me.”

It’s worth noting that sometimes, in investigative reporting, reporters discover the exact nature of the story while reporting. Still, various allegations against Schneider have been public since 2018 and executive producer and Business Insider reporter Kate Taylor had published an in-depth investigative story on Schneider in August 2022.

Bolleau continued, “Number two, it comes out and you tell me, ‘Oh, you’re going to be on episodes number one and number four. And then you call me the day that the fifth episode is going to come out and you say, ‘Hey, by the way, just to let you know, you’re also in the fifth episode.’ But you also forgot to say, ‘Oh and we’re also going to be having a panel discussion to talk about where you are today and how we can move forward.’ You want me to share my story but you don’t want to involve me in the actual narrative of change?”

THR has reached back out to Robertson and Schwartz and ID for comment.

Following the success of the two-night, four part series, ID greenlit a bonus fifth episode, Breaking the Silence, that released April 7.

“There has been a variable deluge of conversation all across social media and that is because Quiet on Set is part of something so much bigger than itself, a real movement for change,” Jason Sarlanis, president of TNT, TBS, TruTV, ID & HLN, linear and streaming, recently told THR about the docuseries. “It has become incredibly clear that as an industry when it comes to children and entertainment, we simply must do better.”

Last month, former Amanda Show writer Jenny Kilgen, who is also featured in the doc, wrote an open letter to SAG-AFTRA, urging them to “take action to initiate and institute robust child safety protocols to protect young actors.” She also expressed support for state and federal legislation, something Robertson and Schwartz have previously told THR was an area they hoped to see change after the success of the doc. The actors union has since responded by outlining the processes they have in place.

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