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Nick Cannon and Amanda Bynes go back a long way, so it’s little surprise he is coming to his friend and Nickelodeon co-star’s defense in an open letter.

Cannon has found himself asked about her a lot in interviews these days, especially after her recent hospitalization and psychiatric hold this month.

As a result, the America’s Got Talent host posted an open letter to his “sister” Wednesday, trying to explain to the public the pressures child stars face.

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Nick notes that while Bynes’ behavior might look “crazy” to people on the outside, it makes total sense to him and should not be a laughing matter.

“Lately I have been hit with an onslaught of questions about someone I consider family, someone I watched grow up,” Cannon writes of the actress.

 

“Someone I genuinely feel is one of the most pleasant human beings I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, Amanda Bynes.”

“The questions have ranged from, ‘Have you spoken to Amanda’ to ‘Are you working on her rap album.’”

“Sometimes I would answer in a playful humorous manner and sometimes I would brush it off as another pop culture topic that a reporter was trying to retrieve a sound bite for.”

“But after recent events of Amanda being admitted under psychiatric care and reported as 5150, I see this as no laughing matter.”

While Cannon calls a career in entertainment “one of the best and easiest occupations to ever have,” he says “one must know how to navigate through the matrix.”

Otherwise, he says “you may find yourself in a very dark hole.”

Before wrapping up his letter with some lyrics from Bill Withers’ classic song “Lean on Me,” he addresses Bynes and offers help to his onetime co-star:

“So I say to my sister Amanda Bynes you’re not alone. I’m here for you. I understand. I care and I appreciate you, because that’s what family does and that’s what family is for.”

Well said, Nick. It’s something that all of us – THG included – should consider, especially the more we learn about Amanda’s serious condition and treatment.

It’s easy to be caught up in the entertainment value of things like her Tweets, while forgetting that she’s a real person with problems, friends and family.

Thanks, Nick, for the sobering reminder.