In recent weeks, a series of protests against the prevalence of sexual violence in the entertainment industry have taken place in front of well-known music companies, and the effort has gained attention on social media through actor Alexa Nicolás. A former cast member of the 2005-2008 Nickelodeon series Zoey 101, Nicholas’ megaphone includes over 255,000 followers on Instagram, as well as public support for activist groups like One Hundred Percent.
Her own organization is called the Eat Predators and her supporters gathered in front of the Warner Music Group headquarters in Los Angeles on July 28; Red Light Management office in Los Angeles, July 21; and Sony Music’s Culver City site last week, where about a dozen protesters held signs linking to artists associated with the label’s group who were accused of sexual harassment and assault.
Despite the small group, Sony’s Aug. 18 meeting drew car horns and stares from employees and attendees. The video posted from the protest received more than 80,000 views in less than a day. On August 25, she went live on Instagram from outside Nickelodeon’s Burbank office.
“The #MeToo movement has completely bypassed the music industry,” Nicholas says. Diversity. “So, I asked, what are you doing about this systemic problem in the music industry?”
In 2021, Nicholas went public with allegations of sexual harassment against her ex-husband Michael Milos of the indie rock band Rhye. Milos vehemently denied these claims; Nicholas withdrew the lawsuit without prejudice in May.
Today, Nicholas reflects, “a woman should not be a pioneer, she should be in the industry itself. …Because the predator will come and go, there will always be a predator. But if they don’t have a safe haven, they can’t perpetuate this violence.”
The Eat Predators have expanded their focus beyond music by making the decision to protest outside of Nickelodeon. This follows the recent release of a memoir by former Nickelodeon child star Jennette McCurdy in which McCurdy claims she was pressured by the company not to go public with the allegations against someone she only refers to as “The Creator.”
Although Nicholas has refrained from expanding the Eat Predators’ efforts on television, she has said that having a 2-year-old daughter has changed her perspective on responsibility.
Nicholas says: “I looked at my daughter and thought, ‘Alexa, we’re talking about kids. We’re talking about your daughter’s future. Whichever career path she chooses, my job as a mother is to do my best to make these conditions safer for her and to take all the knowledge I have personally learned while working in this industry and teach it to others. ”
Nicholas says he hopes the music business can find a way to “come to a very concrete understanding and agreement that we, as a society, no longer protect predators or punish survivors.” She commends Beyoncé’s reporting process for vetting her Renaissance employees for any allegations of sexual harassment as a step in the right direction that should be a “daily practice” with the label and not the artist responsible.