‘Uncomfortable’ footage resurfaces of Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider in hot tub with 16-year-old Amanda Bynes
Footage of Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider in a hot tub with child actor Amanda Bynes has resurfaced amid the release of a new documentary about kids TV.
Titled Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, the two-part series features interviews with cast and crew members who worked with Schneider on Nickelodeon during the late 90s and early 2000s.
Schneider, who produced hit shows like The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, and iCarly, has been accused of inappropriate behavior with crew and with young cast members, with some accusing him of sexism and racism.
Advert
As the allegations in the documentary came to light, a clip from Bynes' series The Amanda Show resurfaced and began doing the rounds online.
The clip was taken from a recurring sketch titled 'Amanda's Jacuzzi', which saw the teenage star interview guests while sitting in a hot tub.
In this particular clip, the young host welcomed Schneider, who is 20 years her senior, into the water and discussed Schneider's job on the show.
"I'm the executive producer and I'm the head writer," he says, adding: "I actually wrote this whole conversation we're having right now."
Bynes then asks if she can have a plate of spaghetti, and the clip comes to an end with the pair eating together in the hot tub.
The scene is thought to have been shot in 2002, when Bynes was around 16-years-old.
After the clip emerged online, viewers described it as 'disturbing' and 'uncomfortable'.
"The fact this made it into an actual episode that kids would've actually watched, makes it worse," one person wrote on X.
Another shocked viewer commented: "THIS IS DISPICABLE, DEPLORABLE & APPALLING."
Others argued the clip was simply 'part of a funny skit during The Amanda Show'.
"She did this with many different characters lol I feel like part of this is over analyzing and over sexualizing everything to make it crazy," one person wrote.
After Quiet on Set aired, Schneider sat down with actor BooG!e, who played T-Bo on iCarly, to discuss the documentary.
A spokesperson for Schneider told UNILAD: "BooG!e (who played T-Bo on iCarly) watched Quiet on Set and reached out to Dan to see if he could ask him some questions about it.
"BooG!e wants to make clear though that he is not a journalist and wasn’t trying to be. He was offering to provide a platform for Dan to confront a lot of his previous behaviors. BooG!e thought it was something worth doing if Dan was into it, so people could hear from Dan."
In the video, Schneider expressed his regret for past behaviour and made clear that he never intended any of his jokes to be anything other than funny for children.
You can see the video below:
Schneider left Nickelodeon in 2018 after 20 years with the company, following a ViacomCBS investigation which concluded that Schneider had been verbally abusive on set.
The investigation determined there was no evidence of sexual misconduct.
In a statement to Entertainment Weekly, a spokesperson for Schneider said of the new documentary: “Dan expected and asked a lot from his teams. They worked long hours and consistently made successful shows. In the challenges of production, Dan could get frustrated at times, and he understands why some employees found that intimidating or stressful.
"In a career spanning 30+ years, Dan worked with thousands of people, many of whom still tell him how much they enjoyed and appreciated working on his shows. But he also knows some people did not have a positive experience, and he is truly sorry for that.”
Nickelodeon has said that, while it 'cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago', it investigates 'all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct'.
"Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience," it added.
A spokesperson for Schneider told Variety: "Everything that happened on the shows Dan ran was carefully scrutinized by dozens of involved adults, and approved by the network.
"If there was an actual problem with the scenes that some people, now years later are ‘sexualizing,’ they would be taken down, but they are not, they are aired constantly all over the world today still, enjoyed by both kids and parents.
"Remember, all stories, dialogue, costumes, and makeup were fully approved by network executives on two coasts.
"A standards and practices group read and ultimately approved every script, and programming executives reviewed and approved all episodes."
UNILAD has contacted Schneider and Nickelodeon for comment.
Topics: Film and TV, US News, Celebrity
Emily Brown