If you grew up watching Nickelodeon in the late 90s to mid-2000s then you will be familiar with iconic TV shows such as Drake & Josh, The Amanda Show, Zoey 101, and iCarly.
You may not know that all these shows we cherished during our childhood were created and produced by the same man, Dan Schneider, who is currently facing controversy due to a recent explosive documentary.
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which premiered on Investigation Discovery, took a deep dive into the disturbing working conditions of both child actors and adult staff on Nickelodeon.
Watch the Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV trailer below:
The docu-series unearthed the alleged inappropriate behaviors that went on backstage and uncovered some disturbing claims of abuse, sexism, racism, and inappropriate dynamics between its underage stars and crew.
The directors of the bombshell documentary, Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, revealed that they began to dig deeper into the man who created hit shows after disturbing videos began emerging online.
Speaking to Variety, Robertson said: "We also saw in those clips, girls appearing on Dan’s shows would receive a squirt of a viscous liquid on their face. There were a lot of questions that were circulating online certainly around the conditions under which these videos were made."
Following this, the directors came across Business Insider's article about Schneider's prominent influence at Nickelodeon so they partnered with journalist Kate Taylor and explored further.
This is what we know from the documentary, which aired from March 17-18.
Drake Bell came forward with the claim that he's the John Doe victim in Brian Peck’s child abuse case.One of the most shocking reveals in the documentary was when the 37-year-old actor disclosed himself as the John Doe victim in the Brian Peck child abuse case.
Back in 2004, the dialogue coach who worked under TV shows such as All That and The Amanda Show was sentenced to 16 months in prison for child sexual abuse, as reported by Today.
The now-63-year-old pled no contest to two charges: lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older and oral copulation of a person under 16. He has served more than a year in jail and was made to register as a sex offender following his conviction.
During the docu-series, Bell stated for the first time publicly that the dialogue coach sexually abused him, telling Quiet On Set: "I've never talked about this outside of therapy," per Daily Mail.
The former child star did not want to delve into detail on camera about his abuse but said that it was "extensive and it got pretty brutal," adding: "Why don't you think of the worst stuff someone can do to somebody as a sexual assault and that'll answer your question. I don't know how else to put it."
Bell also shared that he was stunned to find that several actors and entertainment industry insiders had submitted letters of support for Peck before his sentencing.
Among the recognizable names that praised Peck's character were Ron Melendez, Alan Thicke, James Marsden, Rider Strong, Will Friedle, and Bell’s former The Amanda Show co-star Taran Killam, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The series also explored the disturbing resurfaced scenes on Nickelodeon shows, including an incident with a young Ariana Grande - who was featured on Victorious - and how she tried to "juice a potato" by moving her hands over a brown potato.
Other clips of her sucking her toes, and pouring water over her chest and head while laying upside down on a bed were included in the documentary.
Leon Frierson, a former All That cast member, also opened up about being cast as "Nose Boy" and having to wear a large brown prosthetic nose on his face and shoulders, which seemed to resemble male genitals.
"Frankly, it was just uncomfortable," the 37-year-old shared. "But I always did my best to be a trooper, never complained. We knew being close to Dan could mean an extra level of success. It was important to be on his good side, and he made it known who was on his good side."
Furthermore, the documentary delved into the subtext behind the name of Penelope Taynt - Amanda Bynes' alter ego character on The Amanda Show.
It was reported that the name was a joke about the taint, a vernacular for the part of the body between the anus and the genitals. Writers in the documentary alleged that Schneider asked them to "keep it a secret" from Nickelodeon executives.
Bryan Christopher Hearne is another star from the All That cast featured in the program. The 35-year-old actor portrayed the youngest rapper of all time, "Lil Fetus," on the TV show and was tasked with wearing a skintight bodysuit.
Hearne claimed that he overheard someone on the filming set say that the "skin tone [of the bodysuit] should be charcoal," and confessed that the remark made him "teary-eyed," but he was too afraid to tell his mother Tracey Browne.
"I became an oddball," he admitted in an interview, per The Mirror, while his mom appeared in the documentary and said that her son was being asked to play Black stereotypes.
Hearne claimed Schneider "had a nicer relationship with some of the other white kids," adding: "My time on Nickelodeon played a big part in how I dealt and still deal with racial issues."
His co-star, Katrina Johnson, also featured in the series and said that she was body-shamed by producers who called her parents and allegedly said: "'Hey, Katrina's getting too fat. We already have a fat one, she can't be the fat one."
"I mean, that stuck with me. 'You can't be the fat one.' I still hear those words in my head to this day," she shared, revealing that when she grew up, she was "edged out...by a younger version of me."
Convicted sex offenders on set:The documentary spotlighted Jason Michael Handy, another convicted sex offender on the set of Nickelodeon shows.
The mother of a former Amanda Show child actor, listed only as MJ in the documentary, spoke out about her daughter Brandi's exposure to the former production assistant.
She revealed that Brandi received a disturbing photo of Handy naked and masturbating, and contemplated on whether to report the incident to the police. But MJ was afraid they would think she was a "bad parent," so instead, she kept Brandi away from Handy, and made sure she never returned to show business.
In 2003, authorities searched Handy's home and found sexually exploitative images of children, and a journal in which he describes himself as a "pedophile, full-blown," per the documentary.
He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2004 after pleading no contest to two felony counts involving two minors, one of whom was Brandi.
Following the documentary, Schneider broke his silence in a 19-minute long video with iCarly’s T-Bo actor BooG!E.
The 58-year-old producer said that watching the documentary was "very difficult" as he faced his "past behaviors – some of which are embarrassing and that I regret," and acknowledged that he "definitely owes some people a pretty strong apology. I hate that anybody worked for me and didn’t have a good time."
Watch Schneider's interview below:Schneider directly addressed claims that he asked people to give him massages on set, saying: "It was wrong. It was wrong that I ever put anyone in that position. It was wrong 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."
He admitted that he "would let the pressure of doing 40 episodes or more a year... get to me, which a good boss should never ever do," adding: "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 [documentary], 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,'" he said, stating that "seeing the hurt in some people’s eyes... made me feel awful and regretful and sorry".
The former producer claimed in the interview that he never hired Peck, who was convicted of sexually assaulting Bell in 2004.
"When Drake and I talked and he told me about what happened, I was more devastated by that than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far," he said, adding that he told Bell: "I’m here for you."
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