What You Don't Know About Jennette McCurdy

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The following article includes allegations of child abuse and sexual assault.

In 2022, Jennette McCurdy released a heartbreaking memoir titled "I'm Glad My Mom Died." The book is brimming with revelations about the former "iCarly" star's tragic upbringing, along with details about her uncomfortable career in the spotlight. And despite the child actor wearing a squeaky clean smile for the press, she was suffering in silence behind the scenes. "Inside, I was hurting," she admits in an interview with ABC News. "It was painful. I was angry. I felt unsupported."

As she revealed to The Washington Post, her only drive toward pursuing a career in television was to satisfy her mom, who forced her into the entertainment business at the tender age of six. McCurdy alleges abuses she endured at the hands of her mother. Unfortunately, her experiences on Nickelodeon sets failed to offer any reprieve from the torment she was going through at home. Here's what you don't know about author and former actor Jennette McCurdy.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Jennette McCurdy has been very open about the eating disorder she began struggling with when she was 11 years old. One of the most heartbreaking elements of her anorexia is that her mother, Debrah McCurdy, encouraged calorie-counting. Because the former "iCarly" star felt like she had such a lack of power and agency in her life, her disordered eating was the one thing she felt like she was in full control of. 

She admitted on "The Minimalist Podcast," "I felt like everything else in my life was either my mother's decision or my manager's decision or my agent's decision or the network's decision. I felt like there were so many people in my life making every decision for me. I really felt like I had no authority over myself." Yet, when it came to controlling what she ate, she thought, "I can at least control this."

As she explains in her memoir, the disorder started when Jennette began to develop breasts. Debrah put great effort into making sure her daughter remained as childlike as possible, to both maintain power over her and to ensure she was granted more opportunities in the entertainment industry. In order to hinder her growth, Jennette's mother suggested she go on a strict diet. "I think my mom wanted to keep me as controllable as possible," she told ABC News. "I think she really wanted to have her influence on me, and me growing up was a threat to that."

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, or know someone who is, help is available. Visit the National Eating Disorders Association website or contact NEDA's Live Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can also receive 24/7 Crisis Support via text (send NEDA to 741-741).

While some energetic tweens would kill to be on a hit show like "iCarly," Jennette McCurdy yearned for a normal life outside of the spotlight. The former Nickelodeon star never wanted to become an entertainer in the first place. Acting was something that was forced upon her by her mother, Debrah McCurdy. Jennette says in an interview with ABC News that the reason her mother pushed her into acting was rather selfish. "Her approach was very unhealthy and informed by her own lack of self-worth," she says of her mother's "stage mom" persona, adding, "and she lived vicariously through me."

Jennette explains in her book that she would land a few small commercials and TV roles here and there, but she didn't find the work all that enjoyable. And once she finally landed her biggest role yet as Sam Puckett on "iCarly," her misery only heightened. "My experience with acting is, I'm so ashamed of the parts I've done in the past," she confessed on her "Empty Inside" podcast (via Cosmopolitan). She later continued, "I resent my career in a lot of ways. I feel so unfulfilled by the roles that I played and felt like it was the most cheesy, embarrassing." It didn't help that she was maturing in her teen years and knew her friends weren't impressed with her work.

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

Although Jennette McCurdy is very open about the fact that she did not enjoy her time on "iCarly," there was one wonderful thing to come out of it. According to the "Empty Inside" podcast host, she developed a sisterly kinship with her co-star, Miranda Cosgrove. As she reveals in her memoir, "I'm Glad My Mom Died," the two became BFFs through AIM instant messenger. They would spend hours giggling with each other online, which helped them become closer in real life, as well. Soon, they were practically attached at the hip.

As McCurdy says in her book, she was initially worried that she and Cosgrove would drift apart once "iCarly" wrapped up for its final episode. But to her great relief, the co-stars still care for each other, even if they're not quite as close as they were years ago. "I love Miranda to pieces," McCurdy shared while speaking with Entertainment Tonight. "I always will. She has such a special place in my heart. She helped me grow as a person and heal as a person, and I hope I did the same for her, and I just love her so much."

In an interview with The New York Times, Cosgrove admits that there was a lot that she didn't know about McCurdy's struggles in the entertainment business. She said, "You don't expect things like that from the person in the room who's making everyone laugh."

Jennette McCurdy and Ariana Grande co-starred in the Nickelodeon spin-off "Sam & Cat." In the series, McCurdy reprised her role as the feisty Sam Puckett, while Grande reprised "Victorious'" Cat Valentine, the warm-hearted ditz. They played polar opposites on-screen, and their off-screen lives proved to be no different. Yet unlike on the sitcom, it wasn't just their personalities that were polarizing; it was their respective upbringings, too. 

As much as McCurdy tried not to compare herself to the pop star, she couldn't help but do so on a daily basis. "I grew up in Garbage Grove in a god****ed hoarder house with a cancerous mom who constantly wept about not being able to afford rent and utility bills," McCurdy notes in her memoir. "Ariana grew up in Boca Raton, Florida, an incredibly wealthy, idyllic town, with a healthy mom who could buy her whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted — Gucci bags, fancy vacations, Chanel outfits."

Furthermore, during the series' run, Grande's career sky-rocketed into mega-stardom while McCurdy's remained stagnant. The former "iCarly" star couldn't help but feel as though Grande was being offered special treatment. While Grande was able to miss work and show up late so she could attend to her music career, McCurdy says that she had to back out of two feature films to commit to the show. "I didn't like her," she writes (via Entertainment Tonight). "I couldn't like her."

When it was finally time for "iCarly" and "Sam & Cat" to wrap up, Jennette McCurdy felt an immense wave of relief. But she received a strange phone call following her time at Nickelodeon, which made her instantly suspicious. On the call, her managers relayed the message that she was offered $300,000 dollars as a "thank you" for her time on the series (via Vanity Fair). Yet in reality, she knew immediately that it was "hush money" to ensure she didn't talk about her experiences on set. Although McCurdy admits that she probably could have used that money, because she decided at that point to quit acting altogether, she knew in her gut that she had made the right choice by declining. "This is a network with shows made for children. Shouldn't they have some sort of moral compass? Shouldn't they at least try to report to some sort of ethical standard?" she wondered in her memoir.

"The way I see it now is, that decision came from self-righteousness," McCurdy said in an interview with The Washington Post. "Should I have taken that money? I'm glad I didn't because I'm able to talk about it, and I don't have to have that secret haunt me." When pressed about the hush money on "Good Morning America," McCurdy emphasized that there was a lot more in her book than that.

Jennette McCurdy came from a poor family that often struggled with paying the bills and monthly rent. The reason McCurdy got into acting in the first place was partly because her mother wanted her to have the finances that she never had while growing up. And while many actors only dream of making it big, McCurdy was able to land a big-time role on "iCarly" that washed away her family's financial woes. But what exactly is the former Nickelodeon star's net worth? 

According to Celebrity Net Worth, she has an estimated fortune of $3.5 million dollars. The website reports that she received $50 thousand dollars (an unconfirmed sum) for every episode of "iCarly" that she starred in. Despite her supposed hefty salary, she prefers to live a modest lifestyle that isn't as luxurious as some might anticipate. 

In her book "I'm Glad My Mom Died," McCurdy says that she likes to keep her living space as "simple" as possible. This is partially due to her childhood — she doesn't want to relive the chaotic hoarding space her mother had created within their home. In fact, she even sold her lavish hillside house in Studio City (per the Los Angeles Times) and scooped up a "measly little one-bedroom apartment," as it is described in her book.