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In 2018, Nickelodeon lower ties with Dan Schneider, considered one of their most profitable and prolific present creators, within the wake of employees allegations of abusive habits. Schneider had been liable for a number of the community’s largest hits, together with iCarly, Drake & Josh, Victorious, Kenan & Kel, Henry Hazard, and The Amanda Present starring Amanda Bynes. On the time, questions loomed about what precisely Schneider would possibly’ve carried out to earn such an abrupt exit after being topped the primary (and final) winner of its Lifetime Achievement Award simply 4 years earlier than. Ultimately, some particulars about his alleged toxicity on present units started to drop in dribs and drabs however Investigation Discovery‘s new docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Darkish Facet of Youngsters TV, is now delving deeper into what allegedly occurred.
The three-part collection debuted with its first episode on Sunday, March 17, and featured first-person accounts from solid members, writers, and different staffers who’d labored with Schneider throughout his time as a Nick producer. Every had a distinct story to share about what they heard and noticed, however all of them contended that Schneider’s habits was disturbing however he was just too highly effective for anybody to talk up about it on the time.
Dan Schneider in 2014 (Kevin Winter/Getty Photos)
The Amanda Present was Schneider’s inaugural present creation for the youngsters’s community after he helped write and produce All That — a sketch comedy for teenagers — and two of his first season writers, each ladies, revealed within the docuseries that they had been personally victimized by his habits in a number of methods.
For starters, they allege they had been compelled to share a wage whereas different male writers weren’t (in a press release to the community, Schneider denied having management over salaries). Then, they recalled being subjected to moments of focused humiliation.
“At first, I’d see an on the spot message pop up, Dan would ship a message so that you can say out loud, ‘Scream hammers.’ And also you scream it. After which it might be extra degrading, like, ‘I’m an fool’ or ‘slut.’ And if you happen to didn’t, he would ship you the message once more, caps, exclamation factors, he would scream out, ‘Say it,’ till you probably did,” recalled Jenny Kilgen, who would later provoke a gender discrimination grievance towards Schneider’s firm that later settled.
The incident that made Kilgen give up the present and search authorized damages occurred within the writers’ room for Season 2 when she says she was summoned right into a room the place the entire male writers had been gathered with Schneider, and he requested her if she’d been a telephone intercourse employee earlier than. Nonetheless, the incident she thought-about to be “the worst” occurred to her fellow author Christy Stratton.
“Within the writers room… Christy was speaking about highschool — which is related as a result of we’re writing for a younger woman — and Dan simply stated, ‘ what could be humorous? For those who leaned over the desk and acted such as you had been being sodomized and informed that story about highschool,’” Kilgen recalled, including that after she declined he pressured her to conform. “So she simply leaned over the desk and did what he requested her to do.”
Of the incident, Stratton stated, “Occupied with it now, it’s like oh boy, I simply take into consideration that poor woman and what she needed to undergo… I’d not do this in the present day, however I did it then.” Stratton was later fired after taking break day of labor for a private occasion and wrote a letter in help of Kilgen’s motion towards Schneider.
Different testimonials within the premiere episode embody these of then-child actors Leon Frierson and Katrina Johnson, who labored with Schneider on All That. Each shared particular person experiences of degradation by the writer-producer.
Katrina Johnson on Quiet on Set: The Darkish Historical past of Youngsters TV
“What actually made me really feel essentially the most uncomfortable had been the leotards. I used to be only a rising boy attempting to suit into my physique, and it was on the market for everybody to have a look at and decide me. I simply felt very uncovered,” Frierson remembered. “So one week, we get a script, there’s a brand new character for me on All That named Nostril Boy. Naturally, I’m in a superhero costume which is simply tights and underwear. What was totally different about this, they gave me a prosthetic nostril, an enlarged nostril, and so they put this similar nostril on the costume. You’ll be able to’t assist however discover that it seems to be like penis and testicles on my shoulders.”
In the meantime, Johnson recalled being informed she’d gained an excessive amount of weight that she “can’t be the fats one.” Later, when she went by way of puberty, she was edged out of the present and in the end changed by then-newcomer Bynes, who’d turn into his main star.
Bynes didn’t seem within the docuseries, however her experiences with Schneider additionally loomed massive within the particular, as editor Karen Finley Thompson recalled seeing the kid actress typically giving him massages or hugs. Because the collection continues with its second and third episodes on March 18 and 22 respectively, Quiet on Set will discover much more of Schneider’s historical past and the allegations towards him.
In a press release offered on the docuseries, Nickelodeon stated, “Although we can not corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions many years in the past, Nickelodeon as a matter of coverage investigates all formal complaints as a part of our dedication to fostering a secure {and professional} office atmosphere freed from harassment or different kinds of inappropriate conduct. Our highest priorities are the well-being and greatest pursuits not simply of our staff, casts and crew, however of all youngsters, and we’ve got adopted quite a few safeguards through the years to assist guarantee we live as much as our personal excessive requirements and the expectations of our viewers.”
Quiet on Set: The Darkish Facet of Youngsters TV, Episode 2, Monday, March 18, 9/8c, ID
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