When codirectors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz dove into making Quiet on Set: The Darkish Aspect of Youngsters TV, an Investigation Discovery docuseries about alleged abuse and exploitation at youngsters’ community Nickelodeon, they created a listing of names. “We actually put collectively a spreadsheet,” Schwartz not too long ago informed Self-importance Truthful. “We known as everyone we might discover on IMDb who had been in crew, who had been in solid, and simply folks throughout the trade. You speak to extra folks and speak to extra folks. Taking time to construct a relationship, to construct belief, to get to know folks and perceive what’s essential to them.”
Amongst those that spoke to the filmmakers had been former baby star Drake Bell, who in between roles on Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Present and Drake & Josh says he suffered sexual abuse by the hands of his vocal coach Brian Peck, whom he met on set. When requested to get into specifics concerning the abuse, Bell prompt that somebody may “consider the worst stuff that somebody might do to someone as a sexual assault—and that’ll reply your query.” In October 2004, Peck was convicted on sexual abuse fees, sentenced to 16 months in jail, and ordered to register as a intercourse offender.
By sharing his story, Bell joins former Nick stars like Alexa Nikolas (who additionally seems within the sequence) and Jennette McCurdy in publicizing alleged wrongdoing on the community that gave them their huge breaks. The four-part sequence, which launches into Bell’s account with the ultimate two episodes airing tonight on ID at 9 p.m., has already sparked statements from the likes of Nickelodeon mega-producer Dan Schneider, who is not any stranger to toxicity allegations. Forward, among the reactions to the bombshell docuseries.
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon beforehand mentioned in an announcement to Self-importance Truthful that it “investigates all complaints as a part of our dedication to fostering a protected {and professional} office” and that it has “adopted quite a few safeguards over time.” In an extra remark to Deadline, the community immediately addressed the abuse allegations made by one among its greatest stars. “Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his id because the plaintiff within the 2004 case, we’re dismayed and saddened to be taught of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and assist the energy required to return ahead,” Nickelodeon mentioned in an announcement.
Dan Schneider
The title on practically each documentary participant’s lips is Dan Schneider, who created a bevy of hit exhibits for Nickelodeon and confronted quite a few complaints of a hostile work setting throughout his tenure. In 2018, Nickelodeon lower enterprise ties with Schneider. In a earlier assertion, Schneider informed VF that studies of his abusive conduct in publications corresponding to Deadline had been to not blame for the parting of how. Nevertheless, he maintains: “I might completely do some issues in a different way. I’ve discovered loads over time about the right way to be a greater boss.” As for allegations in Quiet on Set about imbuing his kids’s exhibits with subliminal grownup sexuality, Schneider additionally denied these claims. “Every part that occurred on the exhibits I ran was scrutinized by dozens of concerned adults,” he mentioned in an announcement. “A requirements and practices group learn and in the end accredited each script, and programming executives reviewed and accredited all episodes.”
Schneider’s consultant provided an identical assertion to Selection concerning the sequence, including, “If there was an precise downside with the scenes that some folks, now years later are ‘sexualizing,’ they might be taken down, however they don’t seem to be, they’re aired consistently all around the world right now nonetheless, loved by each youngsters and fogeys.” The assertion additionally maintained that “on daily basis on each set, there have been all the time mother and father and caregivers and their mates watching filming and rehearsals,” including, “Had there been any scenes or outfits that had been inappropriate in any approach, they might have been flagged and blocked by this multilayered scrutiny. Sadly, some adults mission their grownup minds onto youngsters’ exhibits, drawing false conclusions about them.”
Within the docuseries, some observe Schneider’s behavior of asking staff (lots of them feminine) for massages whereas on set. “Dan deeply regrets asking anybody for neck massages,” his staff mentioned in response to Selection. “Although they occurred in public settings, he is aware of this was extremely inappropriate and would by no means occur once more.”
Russell Hicks
The community’s former president of content material and manufacturing referred to Schneider as “probably the most prolific producers of hit tv within the youngsters and household leisure enterprise,” in his personal assertion to Selection. “Dan’s exhibits transcend kids’s tv and are staples on many streaming platforms right now, loved by each youngsters and their mother and father,” the assertion continued. “Dan cared concerning the youngsters on his exhibits even when typically their very own households sadly didn’t.” Hicks concluded that “each single factor that Dan ever did on any of his exhibits was fastidiously scrutinized and accredited by executives at Nickelodeon.”
Amy Berg
Amy Berg, who has gone on to put in writing and produce for exhibits together with Jack Ryan and Legislation & Order: Organized Crime, mirrored on her first Hollywood job—as Schneider’s assistant—in an announcement posted to X on Monday. It was a title she held for lower than a yr earlier than writing and co-executive producing the ultimate seasons of the Nickelodeon sequence, Kenan & Kel and All That. “Throughout my yr with Dan, I wasn’t conscious of any bodily inappropriate conduct,” Berg writes. “What I can affirm, nonetheless, is that he was a fucking asshole. A psychological tormenter. He launched me to panic assaults and the stress of working for him induced me to develop a big coronary heart arrhythmia. I ultimately had surgical procedure to [mostly] appropriate the difficulty, however by that time I’d misplaced all of my 20s. He stole these years from me.”