Jennette McCurdy Says She Was Photographed In Bikinis And Given Alcohol As A Child Star

Jennette McCurdy revealed in an interview with the New York Times that she was "exploited" as a child actor on the set of iCarly.

credit: Tsuni / USA / Alamy

Best known for her role as Sam Puckett in the hit series, the 30-year-old actor is currently promoting her new memoir which details the abuse.

The memoir, named I'm Glad My Mom Died, describes how McCurdy was photographed in a bikini for a Nickelodeon wardrobe fitting and was encouraged to drink alcohol. She would have been a minor at the time.

McCurdy's mother, Debra, died from cancer in 2013. According to the Times interview, she often didn't intervene in such instances. In fact, Debra is alleged to have told her daughter that "everyone wants what you have" and that the exploitation was simply the price of fame.

Jennette McCurdy and her co-star, Miranda Cosgrove (picture), appeared on Nickelodeon show, iCarly, together from 2007-2021. Credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy.

In her memoir, McCurdy also writes that she was told she would get her own iCarly spinoff when the show ended in 2012. Instead, she co-starred in Sam and Cat with Ariana Grande.

McCurdy recalls the moment she "broke" was when "Ariana came whistle-toning in with excitement because she had spent the previous evening playing charades at Tom Hanks’s house."

When Sam and Cat was cancelled after just one season in 2014, McCurdy wrote that she was offered $300,000 in hush money to deter her from publicly discussing her employment at Nickelodeon.

McCurdy starred alongside fellow Nickelodeon actor, Ariana Grande (pictured), in Sam and Cat. Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy

Entertainment Weekly published an excerpt of McCurdy's memoir, in which she details how her overbearing mother tried to live vicariously through her, given that she was unable to pursue a career in acting herself.

After not being able to cry on cue during an audition, McCurdy recalls her mother's reaction when she told her that she wanted to quit acting:

"Mom's face looks like she just ate a lemon. It contorts in a way that terrifies me. I know what's coming next.

"'You can't quit!'" she sobs. 'This was our chance! This was ouuuuur chaaaaance!'

"She bangs on the steering wheel, accidentally hitting the horn. Mascara trickles down her cheeks. She's hysterical, like I was in the Hollywood Homicide audition."

Sadly, McCurdy has spoken previously about the "intense" physical and emotional abuse she endured from her mother. In an interview with People, she revealed that her mother used to perform breast and vaginal exams on her until the age of 17 and wouldn't allow McCurdy to "shower alone".

After retiring from acting in 2017, McCurdy began pursuing writing and directing, and her upcoming memoir will be released on August 9.

---