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Nickelodeon showrunner Dan Schneider is responding to the claims made against him in the new documentary series “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.”
In a video obtained by Fox News Digital, Schneider sits down with BooG!e, an actor who appeared on “iCarly” and worked with Schneider, for an interview.
“Watching over the past two nights was very difficult. Me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret. I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology,” Schneider said.
A spokesperson for Schenider noted, “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.”
Dan Schneider sat down for an interview with former “iCarly” star BooG!e to address claims made against him in the docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.” (Lawrence K. Ho/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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One of the most alarming revelations in the documentary was an interview with “Drake & Josh” star Drake Bell, who detailed sexual abuse allegations against Brian Peck, an actor and dialogue coach hired by Nickelodeon.
In his interview, Schneider noted he did not hire Peck, and was horrified when Bell told him what had happened.
“When Drake and I talked and he told me what happened, I was more devastated by that than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far. And I told him, ‘I’m here for you. What do you need?’” Schneider recalled.
In the documentary, Bell noted that Schneider offered assistance, saying, “Really, the only person I remember being there for me was Dan [Schneider].”
“Drake & Josh” star Drake Bell said Schneider supported him after being sexually abused. Schneider said he was “devastated” when he learned what happened. (Charley Gallay/WireImage)
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Schneider recalled learning of Peck’s sentencing, which Bell described as being full of “recognizable faces” in attendance to support Peck.
The docuseries shared unsealed court documents from Peck’s trial, which contained letters supporting the convicted sex offender from stars like James Marsden, Taran Killam, and “Boy Meets World” stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong.
Schneider never said if he knew specifically who had written letters or was in attendance, but said he was surprised by that information and agreed to help Bell’s mother with her statement at Peck’s sentencing.
“She came to me at the time, and she said, ‘Dan, I’m not good with words like you are. And would you help me with my speech for the judge?’” he recalled, becoming visibly upset in the video. “I said, ‘Of course.’ I did, and he [Peck] ended up going to prison and serving his time.”
Brian Peck was convicted of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under 16 in 2003. He spent 16 months in prison. (Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
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He continued, “And that was probably the darkest part of my career. And here’s the kicker that I really don’t get. After he got out of prison and to my knowledge was a registered sex offender, he was hired on a Disney show! I don’t understand that.”
“Quiet on Set” revealed Peck was hired to work on “The Suite Life of Zack and Cody” after having been convicted of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under the age of 16 and spending 16 months in prison.
Nickelodeon and Disney did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Last week, in response to Bell’s interview, Nickelodeon provided a statement to Fox News Digital.
According to “Quiet on Set,” Peck was hired at Disney after his conviction. (Albert L. Ortega)
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“Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward,” the statement said.
The main focus of the interview was Schneider addressing his own actions on sets as a showrunner, including allegations of running a toxic workplace and discriminating against female writers on staff.
A frequent topic that came up in the documentary was Schneider’s requests for massages on set.
Reiterating an earlier statement addressing the issue, Schnieder said in the interview, “It was wrong. It was wrong that I ever put anybody in that position. It was the wrong thing to do. 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 additionally, I apologize to the people walking around video village or wherever it happened, because there were lots of people there who witnessed it who may have felt uncomfortable, so I owe them an apology.”
Schneider reiterated an earlier apology for having people massage him on set, saying “It was wrong” and he is “embarrassed” he did it. (Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)
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Regarding the pay disparity claims by “The Amanda Show” writers Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, Schneider stated he was not in charge of writer’s’ salaries and that it is common practice for two first-time writers to split the salary of one.
“In this case, it was two women writers” Schneider said, and explained it’s also happened to teams of men and a man/woman team on other projects.
He also addressed the allegations that some of the jokes and scenes filmed for the various series were inappropriate or too sexual for the child actors and audiences.
Schneider again reiterated a previously released statement to Fox News Digital, saying in the interview that the jokes and content contained within the shows went through multiple layers of approval.
Schneider said that all the shows’ content, including material people have now claimed was inappropriate or too sexual, went through multiple layers of approval, including Nickelodeon executives. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Nickelodeon)
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“Every one of those jokes was written for a kids’ audience because kids thought they were funny, and only funny. Now, we have some adults looking back at them 20 years later through their lens, and they’re looking at them, and they’re saying, ‘That’s inappropriate for a kids show,’” he said.
He continued, “And I have no problem with that if that’s how anyone feels. Let’s cut those jokes out of the show. Just like I would have done 20 years ago or 25 years ago, I cut it. I want my shows to be popular, I want everyone to like it. The more people who like the shows, the happier I am. If there’s anything in a show that needs to be cut because it’s upsetting somebody, let’s cut it.”
Bryan Christopher Hearne, who appeared on “All That,” recalled being very uncomfortable filming a challenge for the show “On Air Dare,” which featured “Fear Factor”-like stunts, and Hearne was tasked with being covered in peanut butter and having dogs lick it off him.
A spokesperson for Schneider told Fox News Digital, “The ‘On-AirDares’were Nickelodeon’s & Tolin/Robbins’ answer to ‘Fear Factor;’ they were not shows Dan created.”
In the interview, Schneider did say that he and the writers came up with dares and provided them to the network, who approved the ones that were filmed.
“At the time, I had no indication that any kid ever had a problem with it. But, when I was watching the show over the past two nights, I now know that there were kids that had problems with the ‘On-Air Dares’ and it breaks my heart,” Schneider said. “And I’m 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. We went out of our way to make sure they were safe, and that everything was done properly, but if a kid was scared and didn’t want to do it, kid shouldn’t have had to do it. Period, the end. If I had known at the time, I would have changed it on the spot.”
Schneider said in the interview, “I definitely at times didn’t give people the best of me, I didn’t show enough patience, I could be cocky and definitely over ambitious and sometimes straight up rude and obnoxious and I’m so sorry I ever was.” (Eric Vitale/Getty Images)
In the end, Schneider admitted, “I definitely at times didn’t give people the best of me. I didn’t show enough patience. I could be cocky and definitely over ambitious and sometimes straight up rude and obnoxious, and I’m so sorry I ever was.”
He continued, “When I watched the show, I could see the hurt in some people’s eyes, and it made me feel awful and regretful and sorry. I wish I could go back, especially to those earlier years of my career, and bring the growth and the experience that I have now and just do a better job and never, ever feel like it was okay to be an a–hole to anyone, ever.”
