Nick Cannon Writes Open Letter To 'Sister' Amanda Bynes: 'I See This As No Laughing Matter'

Sometimes all we need is a little help from our friends. Actor, comedian, producer and television host Nick Cannon has penned an open letter to his former television co-star Amanda Bynes -- whom he described as his “little sister” – as she remains hospitalized in Los Angeles under a 5150 mental health hold.

The two starred together on the 90s Nicklodeon sketch series “All That,” and Cannon has fielded a number of questions about the troubled actress in recent interviews.

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

“I am always the first to say that fame and entertainment is one of the best and easiest occupations to ever have, but one must know how to navigate through the matrix or you may find yourself in a very dark hole,” Cannon added.

Bynes has been in show business for much of her life, and the “America’s Got Talent” host feels this might have had a detrimental effect on her well-being as she got older. “When a person is told all of their life that they are awesome, the best, the greatest and they are catered to every moment of the day,” Cannon wrote. “Imagine being the breadwinner in your household before you can even drive. Imagine your parents, teachers, and employers NEVER telling you NO. Anything you ask for or want, the world gives you, at some point you are bound to self-destruct. I call this ‘access to excess.’”

In his open letter, Cannon took the entertainment industry to task, saying it “just consumes people and spits them out like flavorless bubblegum.” He also had some choice words for the media, calling them the “ultimate magnifier” that has only exacerbated an already-dangerous situation.

“No one on this planet needs to be judged or even has the right to judge,” Cannon wrote. “We are all equal and we all have our downfalls, fame or no fame.”

Cannon ended his letter by stating his support for Bynes. “So I say to my sister Amanda Bynes you’re not alone,” Cannon continued. “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.”

According to TMZ, Bynes is responding well to a ‘cocktail’ of medications as doctors assess her mental state. She was placed on a 5150 hold after starting a fire on a stranger’s driveway in Thousand Oaks, Calif. The occurrence was the latest in a series of bizarre incidents which have plagued Bynes in recent months. After she was hospitalized, her parents asked a California judge to grant them conservatorship over their daughter. A decision on that issue has not yet been reached.