Dan Schneider has addressed claims about his behaviour during his tenure at Nickelodeon.
The former executive producer appeared in an interview posted on his YouTube channel to discuss allegations made on a new documentary series titled Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV which aired on US streaming platform Max.
The four-part series made claims about a toxic environment for child actors and crews on Nickelodeon programmes that Schneider created, including The Amanda Show, iCarly, Victorious, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101 and Sam & Cat.
In the 19-minute video, Schneider told actor BooG!E, who played T-Bo on iCarly, that watching the docu-series had been “very difficult, me facing my past behaviours, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret”.
— Dan Schneider (@DanWarp) March 19, 2024
“I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology,” he said.
Schneider is said to have launched the careers of child actors who became major stars, including Miranda Cosgrove, Jamie Lynn Spears and Ariana Grande.
Allegations levelled at Schneider included his tolerance of toxic workplace conditions and alleged torment and humiliation of cast and crew on his TV sets.
“I hate that anybody worked for me and didn’t have a good time,” he said.
“I would let the pressure of doing 40 episodes or more a year, I would let that pressure get to me, which a good boss should never ever do.
“I would snap at people sometimes, I would be snarky when I could have given them a nicer answer, I would not give people the time they needed, I would be in too big a hurry to get onto the next thing I had to do.
“Watching that show, there were so many times I wanted to pick up the phone and call some of those people and say ‘I’m so sorry’ and ‘let’s talk about it’.”
Schneider also discussed allegations that jokes made on his TV shows were “inappropriate for children”.
“Every one of those jokes were written for a kid audience, because kids thought they were funny, and only funny.
“Now we have some adults looking back at them 20 years later and they’re saying it is inappropriate for a kids show.
“I have no problem with that, if that’s how people feel. Lets cut those jokes out of the show, just as I would have done 25 years ago.
“…The last thing I ever want to do is put any content in a show that is going to upset my audience and make them want to turn off the TV, why would I ever want to do that.”
Schneider also addressed allegations that he asked crew members to massage him on set, saying: “It was wrong.”
By Ellie Iorizzo, PA Los Angeles Correspondent
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