Dan Schneider has sued producers of the sequence Quiet on Set: The Darkish Aspect of Children TV for defamation over what he’s known as a “hit job” that falsely implies he sexually abused youngster stars of the Nickelodeon reveals he created.
The sequence, developed by Investigation Discovery, aired in March and uncovered alleged abuse and misconduct by a number of grownup workers at Nickelodeon within the Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s. Schneider was accused of bullying and inappropriate interactions with the kid stars and crew members who labored on his reveals.
Quiet on Set additionally mentioned the crimes of three convicted youngster intercourse offenders, together with ex-dialogue coach Brian Peck, who served a 16-month jail sentence for sexually abusing youngster star Drake Bell. Former manufacturing assistant Jason Michael Useful, who was charged with a lewd act with a baby below 14, and ex-animator Ezel Channel, who obtained a seven-year sentence for lewd acts on a minor, had been additionally named.
Within the lawsuit obtained by Selection, filed Could 1 in Los Angeles’ Superior Court docket, Schneider, 58, stated the docuseries falsely implies he’s additionally a baby predator.
Schneider stated he was unaware of any sexual abuse occurring at Nickelodeon and “condemned the abuse as soon as it was found and, critically, was not a baby sexual abuser himself.”
“However for the sake of clickbait, scores, and views — or put otherwise, cash — Defendants have destroyed Schneider’s popularity and legacy by way of the false statements and implications that Schneider is strictly that,” the lawsuit continues.
Schneider has sued Warner Bros. Discovery, Maxine Productions and Sony Photos Tv for defamation. The manufacturing firms haven’t commented publicly on the lawsuit.
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Schneider is searching for unspecified damages. He has additionally requested for the removing of any allegedly defamatory statements or visuals from the docuseries, or to have the docuseries taken down completely.
The lawsuit factors to a producer disclosure within the docuseries that stated Schneider was by no means discovered to have engaged in inappropriate sexual behaviour. Schneider and his attorneys argue that is proof the producers had been conscious their narrative and visuals had been advancing false allegations and unjustly evaluating him to convicted intercourse offenders.
“At occasions, he was blind to the ache that a few of his behaviors brought about sure colleagues, subordinates, and solid members. He’ll remorse and atone for this conduct the remainder of his life,” the lawsuit reads. “However one factor he isn’t—and the one factor that may perpetually mar his popularity and profession each previous and current—is a baby sexual abuser.”
In a press release to Selection, Schneider stated he has “no selection” however to take authorized motion in opposition to the producers of Quiet on Set.
“Just lately, the docuseries Quiet on Set highlighted errors I made and poor judgment I exhibited throughout my time at Nickelodeon, most of which occurred many years in the past throughout my early profession as a producer, engaged on reveals for Tollin/Robbins Productions,” the assertion reads. “There isn’t any doubt that I used to be typically a nasty chief. I’m sincerely apologetic and regretful for that conduct, and I’ll proceed to take accountability for it.”
“Nonetheless, after seeing Quiet on Set and its Trailer, and the reactions to them, I sadly haven’t any selection however to take authorized motion in opposition to the individuals behind it,” Schneider continued. “Of their profitable try and mislead viewers and enhance scores, they went past reporting the reality and falsely implied that I used to be concerned in or facilitated horrific crimes for which precise youngster predators have been prosecuted and convicted.”
“I’ve no objection to anybody highlighting my failures as a boss, however it’s unsuitable to mislead hundreds of thousands of individuals to the false conclusion that I used to be in any means concerned in heinous acts like these dedicated by youngster predators. I owe it to myself, my household, and the various great individuals concerned in making these reveals to set the file straight,” he concluded.
Quiet on Set: The Darkish Aspect of Children TV is on the market to stream on Max within the U.S., the place it’s the platform’s greatest streaming title ever. (It may be watched in Canada on discovery+ or Prime Video.)
A lot of the manufacturing particulars the rise and fall of Schneider, who created a number of of Nickelodeon’s hottest kids’s TV reveals, together with The Amanda Present, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly and Victorious.
In March, after Quiet on Set first aired, Schneider addressed the claims in opposition to him and apologized for what he known as his “embarrassing” on-set behaviour.
Schneider stated he felt “terrible and regretful and sorry” for the way he the handled individuals who labored for him in his early profession. He did, nevertheless, deny ever sexualizing the kid stars in scenes for his Nickelodeon reveals, and maintained that every part he wrote needed to be accepted by executives on the studio.
He left Nickelodeon in 2018 following an investigation that discovered he’d been verbally abusive to a number of employees members.
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For those who or somebody you realize is experiencing abuse or is concerned in an abusive state of affairs, please go to the Canadian Useful resource Centre for Victims of Crime for assist. They’re additionally reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.
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