Ex-Nickelodeon producer Schneider sues ‘Quiet on Set’ makers for defamation, sex abuse implications

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former Nickelodeon producer and author Dan Schneider sued the makers of “Quiet on Set: The Darkish Aspect of Youngsters TV” on Wednesday, alleging the makers of the documentary collection wrongly implied that he sexually abused the kid actors he labored with.

Schneider filed the defamation swimsuit towards Warner Bros. Discovery and different firms behind the collection in Los Angeles Superior Courtroom.

Schneider, a former teenage actor, was a central determine in Nickelodeon’s dominance of child tradition within the Nineties and 2000s along with his work on the sketch reveals “All That,” “The Amanda Present” and “Kenan & Kel,” and as an government producer on reveals together with “Zoey 101,” “iCarly” and “Victorious.”

He’s additionally the important thing determine in “Quiet on Set,” which aired on true crime cable channel ID in March, has since been streaming on Max, and has made main waves amongst Nickelodeon’s former stars and viewers. It makes use of solid and crew interviews to explain the reveals’ sexualization of younger teenagers and a poisonous and abusive work setting that many stated Schneider was liable for. It additionally consists of descriptions of sexual abuse of kid actors, together with “The Amanda Present” and “Drake & Josh” star Drake Bell, by crew members who have been later convicted for it.

However Schneider, who parted methods with Nickelodeon in 2018, stated within the swimsuit that the “Quiet on Set” trailer and episodes of the present intentionally combine and juxtapose photos and mentions of him with the legal sexual abusers to indicate he was concerned.

“‘Quiet on Set’s’ portrayal of Schneider is a success job,” the swimsuit says. “Whereas it’s indeniable that two bona fide baby sexual abusers labored on Nickelodeon reveals, it’s likewise indeniable that Schneider had no information of their abuse, was not complicit within the abuse, condemned the abuse as soon as it was found and, critically, was not a toddler sexual abuser himself.”

The swimsuit names as defendants Warner Bros. Discovery — the mum or dad firm of ID and Max — and the present’s manufacturing firms, Sony Photos Tv and Maxine Productions.

Emails in search of remark from representatives from the three firms weren’t instantly returned.

The four-part collection means that Schneider’s reveals had an inclination to place younger girls in comedian conditions with sexual implications, and depicts him as an indignant and emotionally abusive boss.

It consists of direct allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination from girls who labored as writers underneath him on “All That.” They stated he confirmed pornography on his pc of their presence within the writers’ room and requested for massages, joking they might result in the ladies’s sketches making the present, which Schneider has denied.

It additionally consists of an interview with Bell wherein he describes “intensive” and “brutal” sexual abuse by a dialogue coach when he was 15, and with the mom of one other woman who was sexually abused by a crew member.

The Related Press doesn’t sometimes title individuals who say they’ve been sexually abused until they arrive ahead publicly, as Bell has.

After the preliminary launch of the present, Schneider broadly apologized in a YouTube video for “previous behaviors, a few of that are embarrassing and that I remorse.”

However the lawsuit says the present and particularly its trailer unjustly implicate him in baby sexual abuse by exhibiting photos of him — together with some along with his arm round younger actors — over discussions of an setting that was unsafe for them.

The swimsuit seeks damages to be decided at trial for what it calls “the destruction of Schneider’s popularity and legacy” by way of “false statements and implications.”

Nickelodeon, which isn’t concerned within the lawsuit, stated in an announcement on the collection that it can not “corroborate or negate” allegations from a long time in the past, nevertheless it investigates all formal complaints and has rigorous protocols for working minors.

“Our highest priorities are the well-being and finest pursuits not simply of our staff, casts and crew, however of all kids,” a community spokesperson stated in an announcement, “and we’ve got adopted quite a few safeguards over time to assist guarantee we live as much as our personal excessive requirements and the expectations of our viewers.”