Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider responds to accusations he sexualized child stars
Dan Schneider has responded after a documentary revealed some disturbing accusations about the Nickelodeon producer.
Years after creating some of the shows that formed people's childhoods, Schneider became the subject of a number of allegations in the Investigation Discovery series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
The series featured interviews with cast and crew members who worked with Schneider in the late 90s and early 00s, with people recalling instances of alleged sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior with young cast members.
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In the wake of the documentary, Schneider sat down to chat about the allegations with former iCarly cast member BooG!e, who played T-Bo on the Nickelodeon show.
A spokesperson for Schneider told UNILAD: "BooG!e 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 conversation, Schneider wasted no time in expressing his regret for some of his behavior in the past.
"Watching [the documentary] over the past two nights was very difficult, me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret," he said. "I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology."
BooG!e pointed out that some of the jokes Schneider wrote in his shows are now being considered as inappropriate for children - despite the fact it was often children themselves delivering them.
Some of the jokes can be interpreted to be about adult sexuality, though Schneider insisted that 'every one of those jokes was written for a kid audience because kids thought they were funny, and only funny'.
That being said, the producer said he had no problem with the notion of cutting potentially inappropriate jokes out of old shows.
“Let’s cut those jokes out of the show, just like I would have done 20 years ago or 25 years ago” he said. “I want my shows to be popular. I want everyone to like (the shows), the more people who liked the shows, the happier I am. So if there’s anything in a show that needs to be cut because it’s upsetting somebody, let’s cut it.”
Schneider also pointed out that there were numerous adults on set while these jokes and decisions about scenes were being made, and that they were not flagged as inappropriate at the time.
That being said, he added: "I now know that there were kids who did have problems with the on-air dares. And it breaks my heart. I am so sorry. I am so sorry to any kid who ever had to do a dare or anything that they didn't want to do or weren't comfortable doing."
"If I had known at the time I would have changed it on the spot," he added.
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 said in a statement.
Schneider left Nickelodeon in 2018 after 20 years with the company.
Topics: Film and TV, US News
Emily Brown