Jamie Lynn accused of making Zoey 101 set a 'very toxic' workplace by former co-star

[TMC]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...a-Nikolas.html

By CARLY JOHNSON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 02:57 EDT, 28 July 2023 | UPDATED: 10:58 EDT, 28 July 2023

Britney Spears' sister Jamie Lynn is accused by her former Zoey 101 co-star of making the set a 'very toxic' workplace.

Alexa Nikolas — who played Nicole on the hit Nickelodeon series — left the show after just two seasons and claimed that she was 'put through the ringer' by the younger sister of Britney Spears.

Speaking to YouTube podcast channel H3, Alexa recalled the 'pretty bad three years' she spent shooting the show.

'Jamie Lynn Spears just created a very toxic, unhealthy work environment,' she claimed to host Ethan Klein.

Alexa said that she believes her 'bubbly' personality rubbed her co-star the wrong way.

She initially thought Jamie Lynn was shy or wary of new people because of the global fame of her sister, Britney Spears, she claimed things 'slowly escalated'.

Explaining Jamie Lynn would refuse to invite her to cast lunches in her trailer, Alexa said: 'It just started to snowball, basically, and then it became bullying where she would just say harsh things to me like,

'"Why do you smile so much?" You know like this kid bullying s*** basically. But you know, at that time it hurt. When I was a kid.'

Alexa accused Jamie Lynn of having 'created the culture of the set' because she was the lead name in the cast and so many who worked on the show - which ran for four seasons between 2005 and 2008 - bent to her will.

She added: 'And her not liking me made everyone else kind of feel like, I think, they had to also engage in that type of behavior.'

The 'That's Life' actress ultimately decided to leave the show after Britney screamed at her for 'bullying' her sister.

Recalling how she had headed to Jamie Lynn's trailer feeling 'kind of hopeful' the 'Toxic' singer - who was heavily pregnant - wanted to serve as a mediator, only for both her co-star and chaperone Ian to 'disappear'.

Alexa said of Britney: 'I remember she just started yelling at me, telling me that I was bullying her sister, and I wanted to say something. And I remember my throat just closed. I couldn't even speak, and I tried, and I just started to cry and hyperventilate.

'And [Britney] was like, 'I'm gonna make sure you don't work again.'

The confrontation was so 'f****** scary' that Alexa 'puked' as soon as she left the trailer, but claimed no one who saw her vomit seemed to care.

Later, one of the programme's creators, Dan Schneider - who has been accused of inappropriate behaviour by numerous other child stars - came to speak to her.

She recalled: 'And here comes Dan Schneider, with his sunglasses. And he looks at me — and I'll never forget this — he goes, 'Now what?'

After interpreting the statement as Alexa getting the blame, her mother told Dan she wouldn't be returning to set but was told she was obligated to finish a scene.

She recalled: 'I remember just kind of looking at all the adults [on set]. I remember just looking up at them and just, you know, I didn't matter that much in that situation.'

debuted on Thursday on the Paramount+ streaming service, and fans and critics are already digging in to the Jamie Lynn Spears–starring romantic comedy.

The streaming movie, which serves as a sequel to Spears' Nickelodeon series Zoey 101, has so far received a disappointing array of reviews from critics, who objected to its abundant use of the genre's cliches.

It was a different story for fans of the original show, though, as they were more positive in reactions posted to social media.

The movie, which is directed by Nancy Hower and written by Monica Sherer and Madeline Whitby, was released the same day that its star Jamie, 32, dropped by one of its billboards in West Hollywood to celebrate her return to acting.

In a pan for The Daily Beast, Kyndall Cunningham took a jab at Zoey 102's title character, saying that she appears to have 'peaked in high school.'

She points out Zoey's seeming suspended adolescence, as she has the same kind of 'fawning' men following her around as she did in the original series.

Cunningham also criticized the show for painting the character as somewhat of a disappointment while seemingly attributing her failures to her inability to make a relationship work with Chase (Sean Flynn).

The writer noted that Zoey's failure to develop as a person is largely unexplained, leaving her apparent split with Chase years earlier as the only viable explanation.

The film attempts to show Spears dealing with sexism on the set of a reality series that she produces, but Cunningham felt those parts of the story were merely 'cursory' and felt tacked on for relevance.

It didn't help that the comedy felt overly long.

'This film makes its 100-minute runtime feel like two-and-a-half hours,' Cunningham wrote.

For The Guardian, Adrian Horton also gave Zoey 102 a less-than-rosy review.

She wrote that it was logical for Paramount+ to try to revive Zoey 101, but that the new 'revisionist happy ending' grafted on to the series' original finale feels 'at best strange and too overdue to work.'

'At worst, as often is the case with the finished product, it’s so focused on recapturing long past, hazily remembered magic as to be cringe-inducing,' she added.

Also coming in for criticism was the quality of the acting all around, as well as the awkward way the movie's tone tries to find a middle ground between maturity and the youthful abandon of the original show.

Horton writes that Zoey 102 is 'too sanitized, sexless and immature for the original audience, but not savvy (nor relatable or relevant) to today’s tweens.'

Brandon Yu was more positive for the New York Times, calling it a 'serviceable revival.

He praised it for retaining the original's tone and adding some nostalgia without 'overdoing' it.

Fans were more positive on Twitter, with one person imploring Paramount+ to greenlight a series revival of Zoey 101 instead of just a sequel film.

'Just finished Zoey 102 and pls I beg of paramount plus to just do a spin off of Quinn and Logan!' they wrote, referencing a group of side characters who bring Zoey and Chase back together with their wedding.

'Finished Zoey 102,' wrote another fan, adding '15 years later they're still excellent my children.'

Another account noted that Zoey 102 fit in a line of recent revivals of Nickelodeon teen comedies that took more bittersweet approaches to the original romances.

'If i had a nickel every time a Nickelodeon pairing from my childhood came back as adults and stabbed me in the heart with the feels, I'd have 3 nickels, which is not a lot but it's weird that it happened three times right?' they wrote.

Several fans noted their appreciation for Quinn and Logan's relationship, which appeared to be a high note for the revival.

But even though many fans appeared please with the show, several posters were shocked to learn that Zoey 102 even existed, either because they hadn't heard of it or thought it wasn't worth reviving.

'Stop with the remakes wtf you mean ZOEY 102?!?' vented one Twitter user.

Zoey 102 is now available to stream on the Paramount+ app.