​​Former Nickelodeon Star Cancelled For Racist Social Media Posts

A former Nickelodeon is being canceled and has left social media after a post she made on TikTok was under fire for possible racism

By Doug Norrie | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

A former Nickelodeon star is facing the heat of cancel culture after she posted a response to a TikTok video made by a group of black creators. Lindsay Shaw has come under significant online fire for her comments to the point that she has decided to leave social media. She responded to the criticism leveled against her with a few other former co-stars coming to her defense. But the original post has drawn considerable social media ire. 

The dust-up started when Lindsay Shaw posted a TikTok video appearing to make fun of a group of black creators who are performing a rather silly dance. The move on TikTok is to place yourself in the video and dance along and it’s become something of a trend. Instead, the former Nickelodeon star took a shot at the dance saying, “Hey, are we OK? What the f— is this?” The post immediately drew criticism for her tone and apparently having a racial element to her comments. She has since deleted the video when she came under fire from those calling her take on the video racist. 

Lindsey Shaw ended up taking to Instagram in the wake of the criticism to post a story that had her in tears about the reaction to her video. She apologized for the comment saying that she didn’t mean anything by it. But also said that she had received considerable hate mail from those upset with her original posting. In the end, she said she would be taking a break from social media for the time being citing mental health reasons. That post was taken down, but was shared again by another account. 

Shaw first broke into the industry on Nickelodeon with Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide. She played Jennifer “Moze” Mosely, a friend of the titular Ned for the show’s three seasons. After leaving the show, she landed the lead role in the ABC Family series remake of 10 Things I Hate About You. It received moderate reviews from critics, but only lasted a single season on the network. Then there was a recurring role on Pretty Little Liars. 

Devon Werkheiser, who played Ned on the Nickelodeon show, responded on his own TikTok account, coming to Shaw’s defense saying she isn’t the kind of person who posts hateful things. There’s a clear idea from his posting that this might have simply been a misunderstanding. It didn’t help though that Werkheiser had recently posted himself dancing in the same video days before and Shaw had responded with a “Get it!!!” as a response. The difference in reactions to his post and the other she commented on was what drew additional condemnation. 

Starting on Nickelodeon hasn’t led to a ton of higher-profile roles in the present. Most recently, Shaw was featured in Reboot Camp, a comedy mockumentary that lampooned the self-help guru industry. But other than that, it’s been mostly dry for the actress on that front. It is unclear what happens for Shaw going forward or if this will ultimately harm her career. For the time being, she will at least be taking a break from social media posting.