Dan Schneider is taking his gripes with Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV to court. The former Nickelodeon show creator and producer is at the center of the story in Investigation Discovery’s headline-making docuseries, with accusations including incidents of sexism, racism, and toxicity on the sets of his shows by former adult colleagues and child actors. The series also presents horrifying details about one actor’s experience being assaulted by a later-convicted child abuser, and Schneider reportedly contends that the marketing materials conflate the two portions of the story, making him look like he was involved with the latter.
In a lengthy statement provided to The Wrap, Schneider explained his decision to take action for defamation against producers of the docuseries — despite owning up to some of the behavioral issues alleged by the former child stars featured in the series — by saying, “Recently the docuseries Quiet on Set highlighted mistakes I made and poor judgment I exhibited during my time at Nickelodeon… There is no doubt that I was sometimes a bad leader. I am sincerely apologetic and regretful for that behavior, and I will continue to take accountability for it.”
“However, after seeing Quiet on Set and its trailer and the reactions to them, I sadly have no choice but to take legal action against the people behind it,” the statement continues. “In their successful attempt to mislead viewers and increase ratings, they went beyond reporting the truth and falsely implied that I was involved in or facilitated horrific crimes for which actual child predators have been prosecuted and convicted.”
The official trailer for the docuseries previews the claims made by former female writers on Schneider’s shows including gender discrimination, as a speaker ponders, “How safe can any kids be in that environment? There would be even bigger problems down the line with actual pedophiles.”
The lawsuit lists as defendants: Warner Brothers Discovery Inc., Maxine Productions, Sony Pictures Television, Mary Robertson, and Emma Schwartz.
In the statement, Schneider went on to add that he has “no objection” to the segments that show his own mistakes “as a boss” but argued, “It is wrong to mislead millions of people to the false conclusion that I was in any way involved in heinous acts like those committed by child predators. I owe it to myself, my family, and the many wonderful people involved in making these shows to set the record straight.”
After the docuseries premiered to an audience of several million viewers, Schneider discussed it in an interview with iCarly star BooG!e on YouTube and apologized, saying, “Watching over the past two nights was very difficult… facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret. I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.”
Schneider was previously fired by Nickelodeon, despite being the first and only winner of their lifetime achievement award, in 2018 after claims of cast mistreatment began to circulate.
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Streaming, Max