Jennie Garth has opened up about the 'bad vibes' she got when she was working on set with Dan Schneider.
Garth appeared on the Armchair Expert podcast on April 13, and recalled getting a bad feeling from the Nickelodeon producer when she started working on the series What I Like About You.
She and Amanda Bynes co-starred in the series, but Garth revealed that while working on it she preferred to communicate directly with Will Calhoun, one of its creators, rather than speaking to Schneider.
Garth told the podcast: “I said to Will, like, ‘I would rather just communicate solely with you. I trust you. I think that you have my best interests in mind, and I don’t feel that way with your partner. So I’d rather just be with you'. And he was like, 'No problem'.”
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She explained that Schneider had worked on 'the Amanda side' of the TV show, referring to her co-star, saying: "She had worked with him a lot on The Amanda Show and all the things. So, he had hooked his wagon onto her.”
At the time they were filming, Garth was 30 years old and Bynes was just 16.
“I didn’t know how to be around a teenage girl. She taught me so much,” Garth said.
Garth has not spoken much about Schneider before, telling The Hollywood Reporter in 2024: “I don’t want to talk about Dan Schneider ever again in my life.”
The controversy surrounding Dan Schneider
That same year, Investigation Discovery published a documentary series which examined the controversy surrounding Schneider, who was an influential producer at Nickelodeon.
This was called Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, and explored the working environment on kids' TV shows, including Sam & Cat, iCarly, Drake & Josh, Victorious, Zoey 101, and The Amanda Show.
The series made allegations that Schneider allegedly permitted poor workplace conditions.
Other allegations included that Schneider would allegedly humiliate members of the cast and crew on set, as well as writing scripts which were not suitable for children to perform in, and allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards young women.
Schneider has previously addressed the docuseries, saying: “When I watched the show, I could see the hurt in some people’s eyes, and it made me feel awful and regretful and sorry.
"I wish I could go back, especially to those earlier years of my career, and bring the growth and the experience that I have now and just do a better job and never, ever feel like it was OK to be an asshole to anyone, ever.”
Nickelodeon's former president of content and production, Russell Hicks, has also previously issued a statement on Schneider, which said: "Dan cared about the kids on his shows even when sometimes their own families unfortunately did not."
The statement added: "Every single thing that Dan ever did on any of his shows was carefully scrutinised and approved by executives at Nickelodeon."
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Kit Roberts