Written by: Taylor Duff | Staff Writer
Content warning: this article contains mentions of sexual assault.
Dan Schneider, former Nickelodeon producer and writer, is suing the producers of “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” stating that the show implies sexual assault of young actors with whom he routinely worked.
Schneider is suing Warner Bros, Discovery, Maxine Productions and Sony Pictures Television, who worked on the production of the series. The case will be brought before the Los Angeles Superior Court on the grounds of alleged defamation with misleading allegations of sexual abuse against child actors.
Schneider’s lawyers declared that the alleged false statements and implications harmed his reputation and legacy at Nickelodeon. The first four episodes of “Quiet on Set” premiered on March 17 and 18, 2024 while the fifth episode was released on April 7, 2024.
Schneider responded to the docuseries with a YouTube video titled, “Dan Schneider Talks about Quiet on Set” on Schneider’s YouTube channel, “DanWarp.” In the video, Schneider sits with BooG!e, born Bobby Bowman, who plays T-Bo on one of Nickelodeon’s hit shows, iCarly, that Schneider produced.
In this video, BooG!e recounts the docuseries and Schneider addresses allegations raised, such as pressuring female employees to perform massages, constant harassment and making co-writers uncomfortable in the writer’s room.
Concerning the alleged massages, Schneider said, “It was wrong that I ever put anybody in that position… I’d never do it today, I’m embarrassed… I apologize to the people who were walking around Video Village or wherever it happened because there were lots of people there who witnessed it who also may have felt uncomfortable so I owe them an apology as well.” Regarding writers, Schneider stated, “No writer should ever feel uncomfortable in any writer’s room ever, period, the end.”
The docuseries also features two writers, Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, who remember Schneider illegally forcing the women to split their payment “I have nothing to do with paying writers, I never have. I’ve never made a writer’s deal and of all the writers I’ve been in a writer’s room with, I never even knew how much most of them were getting paid… it’s very simple, there’s a common practice in television when hiring… writers for your first job are willing to share a salary, you can both have the job (and) they have the opportunity to say ‘Yes, that sounds good’ or ‘No, no thank you,’” Schnieder said.
Back in 2000, Kilgen filed a lawsuit against Schneider for gender discrimination because of the alleged harassment and illegal payment, prompting an internal investigation. The lawsuit settled for an undisclosed amount.
Schneider states as the lawsuit is served to the producers of “Quiet on Set,” “… I sadly have no choice but to take legal action against the people behind it. In their successful attempt to mislead viewers and increase ratings, they went beyond reporting the truth and falsely implied that I was involved in or facilitated horrific crimes for which actual child predators have been prosecuted and convicted…”
Contact the author at tduff23@mail.wou.edu
