‘Quiet on the Set’ Exposes Nickelodeon chaos

Kate Middleton's 'Wild Kardashian Episode'

By H. Alan Scott

Just when you think this "Where is Kate?" royal scandal couldn't get any weirder, another day passes and well, it just gets weirder. TMZ posted the first video of the princess with William walking outside, but now some—including an editor at TMZ—is expressing doubts if that was even Kate in the video. Meanwhile, media outlets are scrutinizing other photos of the royal couple and finding inconsistencies. Is anything real?! My head is spinning. (But also, let's be real, I live for moments like this.)

In news from this side of the pond, I'm currently binging Manhunt on Apple TV+, and so should you. Like there's so much I didn't know about the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. I spoke with Tobias Menzies about starring in the series and yes, I had to ask him about The Crown too.

Also, fitness guru Richard Simmons announced on his Facebook page that he has skin cancer. He's been the subject of intense scrutiny in recent years after he retired and mostly went into hiding, but I always thought that was insensitive. Let this man live and give him his privacy. Here's hoping everything goes well with his diagnosis.

I'll be back on Friday with more exciting entertainment news. Scroll down for more tea, if you will. (See, I made it British again. Can't get Kate out of my head.)

Former Nickelodeon Stars Slammed Over Comments About Controversy

By Billie Schwab Dunn

Former Nickelodeon stars have been criticized over their comments about the allegations made in the docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

In the series, several former child stars are interviewed, and Drake & Josh star Drake Bell speaks publicly for the first time about being repeatedly molested by his dialogue coach Brian Peck when he was 15.

In 2004, Peck pleaded no contest to charges of oral copulation with a minor under 16 and performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old. Peck spent 16 months behind bars for his offenses. He was also legally required to register as a sex offender. At the time of Peck's conviction, Bell was not publicly identified as a victim.

Now, three former child stars from Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide are being criticized over jokes they made about the matter in a TikTok live.

Tobias Menzies on How 'Manhunt' Shows How 'Fragile Democracies Can Be'

By H. Alan Scott

How much do we really know about the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln? That's a question Tobias Menzies hopes to answer in Apple TV+'s Manhunt. "The thing that really struck me was the newness of the nation, that it wasn't really all knitted together properly, it was still so raw."

Menzies plays Edwin Stanton, the U.S. Secretary of War under Lincoln, as he leads the manhunt for John Wilkes Booth. As a Brit, Menzies says "it's not without its trepidation to take on these important figures in your country's history," but that he hopes "to bring enough insight, and maybe some of that is about being an outsider."

The show, which leans "toward the conspiracy political, crime thriller sort of genre," is also surprisingly timely. "The political and physical reality of the United States is a sort of a given now. It was interesting putting ourselves back into a world where that's not a given...and the danger is that the tide will significantly turn in a different direction if [Stanton] isn't able to resist the forces that have committed that deed."