Daniella Monet Calls Out Nickelodeon for Sexualization of Victorious

Daniella Monet, who played Trina Vega on Victorious, reflected on the moments from the Nickelodeon show she felt were sexualized. This is what she had to say.

By Mike Vulpo Aug 31, 2022 7:00 PMTags
Watch: Daniella Monet Calls Out Nickelodeon for Sexualization

Daniella Monet is sharing new details about her experience working on the set of Victorious.

Between 2010 and 2013, the actress played Trina Vega on the hit Nickelodeon series. But while the cast brought a whole lot of laughs on-screen, Danielle reflected on frustrations she dealt with behind-the-scenes, including wardrobe that she recalled to Business Insider as being "not age appropriate," noting that she "wouldn't even wear some of that today as an adult."

The 33-year-old also shared that she contacted Nickelodeon regarding a scene in which she ate a pickle while applying lip gloss. Daniella told Business Insider that she expressed concern to the network that she felt the scene was too sexual to air. However, the episode, with the scene fully intact, was ultimately released.

And while Daniella noted that most of the scenes in Victorious were "very PC, funny, silly, friendly, chill," she wishes some moments were different.

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"Do I wish certain things, like, didn't have to be sexualized?" she said. "Yeah. A hundred percent."

JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX/AFP via Getty Images

E! News has reached out to Nickelodeon, Daniella and Victorious creator Dan Schneider for comment and has not heard back. Russell Hicks, Nickelodeon's former president of content development and production, stood by the show's creator, telling Business Insider, "Every single thing that Dan ever did on any of his shows was carefully scrutinized and approved."

Despite her frustrations with certain moments from the series, Daniella still has positive memories working with her co-stars, which included Victoria Justice and Ariana Grande

Back in 2020, Daniella and the cast of Victorious participated in a video chat to celebrate the show's 10-year anniversary. In a previous episode of her Adulting Like a Mother Father podcast, the actress said the virtual reunion lasted two hours and could have gone on even longer.

"We could have been on there forever," she shared in March 2020. "I feel like we all just really enjoyed everyone's company. One thing we talked about on the Zoom call was what are some things we hear about to this day in regards to our characters?"

Regarding her character, Daniella said that people always wonder "why I'm not super annoying in person…they think I'm very different than Trina, which is the point because we're playing roles!"

 

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