‘Child Star’ documentary sparks discussion about child actors’ safety

Content Warning: The following article discusses topics of child abuse

In recent years, many former child actors, including Demi Lovato, Jennette McCurdy and Drake Bell, have shared their horror stories as children on television and on film sets.

On September 17, Lovato released a documentary titled “Child Star,” which featured interviews with former child actors about their experiences growing up in the entertainment industry. The documentary starred JoJo Siwa, Drew Berrymore, Kenan Thompson, Raven-Symoné, Alyson Stoner and Christina Ricci. The stars talked about their experiences and how some things that happened to them as child stars affected them as adults.

Berrymore and Lovato shared that adults in the industry gave them drugs and alcohol as children. Lovato and Stoner shared their experiences with eating disorders while filming Camp Rock (2008). Symoné explained that she knew how much money she made when she began her role on “The Cosby Show” at age three and was very aware that acting was her career.

Thompson shared that he was cheated out of much of his earnings from Nickelodeon because Florida has no laws protecting child actors. Siwa detailed her experiences with Nickelodeon after coming out at 17. She revealed that the company had the rights to everything except her social media pages and told her to call retailers to say she wouldn’t “go crazy” after her public coming out on Instagram.

“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” premiered earlier this year and made headlines as more former child stars spoke out about their experiences. The docuseries exposed top Nickelodeon executives for their cruel and abusive treatment of child stars. “Drake & Josh” and “The Amanda Show” star Drake Bell revealed he was sexually abused by dialogue coach Brian Peck, who was sentenced to 16 months in prison in 2004.

Another driving force behind the discussion about protecting child actors is former Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy. In her memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” McCurdy described her experiences as a child star, a career her mother forced her into.

McCurdy also revealed her struggles with eating disorders and her experiences with “The Creator,” an unnamed character who pushed McCurdy to drink underage alcohol and made the “iCarly” set toxic and scary.

These stories from prominent former child actors raise questions about what laws protect child actors. The California Child Actors Act, or the Coogan Law, protects the earnings of child actors. The child’s employing company must put 15% of the child’s earnings into a blocked trust account until the child reaches adulthood.

New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Kansas, North Carolina, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico and Tennessee all have laws very similar to the Coogan Act, and rights and protections for child actors vary between states. There are no federal protections for child actors, as children in the entertainment industry are exempt from the protection and employment laws of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Despite the countless stories from former child actors detailing the abuse and mistreatment they endured on set, there are limited laws protecting child actors.

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