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Dan Schneider Responds to ‘Quiet on Set’ Documentary, ‘Regrets’ Some ‘Past Behaviors’
Dan Two days after Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set documentary series dropped, showrunner and former Nickelodeon writer Dan Schneider publicly responded to the allegations made both against him and the environment created on his sets.
“Watching over the past two nights was very difficult, me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret,” Dan, 58, told BooG!e – who played T-Bo on hit Schneider show iCarly – in a YouTube interview published on Tuesday, March 19. “I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.”
Dan proceeded to address multiple aspects of the documentary, starting with the massages he would request from staffers, saying, “It was wrong.”
“It was wrong that I ever put anybody in that position. It was the wrong thing to do,” he said. “I’d never do it today. I’m embarrassed that I did it then. I apologize to anybody that I ever put in that situation, and even additionally I apologize to the people who were walking around Video Village or wherever they happened because there were lots of people there who witnessed it who also may have felt uncomfortable.”
After clearing the air surrounding the massage portion of the documentary, Dan shifted his attention to the allegations made about the alleged toxic behavior in the writer’s room, saying, “No writer should ever feel uncomfortable in any writer’s room ever period.”
“There are inappropriate jokes made and inappropriate topics come up, but the fact that I participated in that, especially when I was leading the room, it embarrasses me.”
To anyone that didn’t have a “good experience” working for the showrunner, Dan addressed them directly. “I would like to speak to those people because I hate that anybody worked for me and didn’t have a good time.” “I would snap at people, sometimes I would be snarky when I could have given them a nicer answer,” he continued. “I would not give people the time that they needed.”
As for the content of his shows, Dan told BooG!e that some of the jokes included – in hindsight – are not appropriate for children. “Let’s cut those jokes out of the show,” Dan said, before pointing out that there were executives and “many levels of scrutiny” relating to his shows and their content.
Dan continued to address point after point included in ID’s series, shifting his attention to the sketches and stunts that minor actors were put in. “There were kids who did have problems with on-air dares and it breaks my heart,” the showrunner said. “I’m so sorry.”
The famed writer further addressed points of contention around salaries – maintaining that he was not part of those conversations – before moving on to address his relationship with Amanda Bynes.
Admitting that he had helped her to become emancipated from her parents when she was still a minor, Dan said of their bond, “She wanted to get emancipated from her parents, which was a fairly common with successful young actors at least at the time. And she wanted that for herself.” He continued, “So, she turned to her team, which included her lawyer, her agent, her manager, her publicist, me, cause she included me as part of her team, thought of me that way. We supported her. She tried to get emancipated and it ended up not working out and she didn’t.”
Dan’s last point of the YouTube discussion – with perhaps the most weight – came when he addressed Drake Bell and the sexual assault allegations made against voice coach Brian Peck. Dan maintained that he did not hire Brian, and that he was devastated for Drake.
The showrunner concluded his interview, stating, “There’s definitely things that I would do differently. One that I think would be really, really important is when you’re hiring young actors, minors, to work in television, I would suggest that we have a licensed therapist there to oversee that process.” He continued, “I definitely at times didn’t give people the best of me. I didn’t show enough patience … I wish I could go back to those earlier years of my career and bring the growth and the experience that I have now and just do a better job.”
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