Nick Cannon writes open letter to Amanda Bynes

Nick Cannon and Amanda Bynes both found fame on the Nickelodeon series "All That." Since then, he's gone on to host "America's Got Talent" and marry Mariah Carey, while Bynes' latest headlines refer not to her acting career but to her arrests, Twitter rants and other bizarre behavior.

But Cannon hasn't forgotten about his former co-star. He's written an open letter to Bynes, posted on his website following herhospitalization last week, where she remains under a two-week psychiatric hold.

"Lately I have been hit with an onslaught of questions about someone I consider family, someone I watched grow up, and someone I genuinely feel is one of the most pleasant human beings I have had the pleasure of meeting, Amanda Bynes," Cannon wrote. "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."

He continued, "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."

"We all end up alone in that dark hole at some point in our lives and if you don't have a foundation of friends and family to help bring you up and out it makes that journey long and detrimental," Cannon wrote. "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."

He finished the letter with lyrics from Bill Withers' "Lean on Me," and a picture of the two of them from their Nickelodeon days.

Bynes' parents are seeking a conservatorship over their 27-year-old daughter, saying they are concerned she may hurt herself or others unless they are allowed to have control over her medical care and finances. A judge has set a hearing on the issue for Aug. 9.