- Former Nickelodeon producer alleges that Quiet on Set makers wrongly implied he sexually abused child actors
- Documentary series Quiet on Set details allegations of toxic work environments on many shows Schneider was associated with
- Companies named in lawsuit have yet to respond
Dan Schneider, the former leading Nickelodeon producer, is suing the makers of the documentary series ‘Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV’ for defamation, alleging that they wrongly implied he was involved in sexual abuse of child actors on various shows.
The defamation suit has been filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court against Warner Bros Discovery – the owner of the ID and Max channels the documentary series has featured on – and Sony Pictures Television and Maxine Productions, the production companies that made the series.
Quiet on Set has been a hit series this year, detailing an alleged toxic and abusive working environment on many of the hit Nickelodeon shows of the 1990s and 2000s that Schneider was showrunner on. It also described sexual abuse of some child actors on certain shows by members of the crew, who have since been convicted for their crimes.
Interviews with cast and crew from shows including ‘The Amanda Show’ and ‘All That’ detailed their experiences and the lasting trauma it has had on them. The series also suggested that shows Schneider was involved with tended to put young women in comic scenarios that had sexual implications.
However, Schneider – who did not take part in the series – has said in the suit that trailers for Quiet on Set, as well as passages in episodes of it, juxtapose images and mentions of him with the convicted abusers, which he says implies that he was involved. Schneider has denied any knowledge of the abuse occurring at the time nor being complicit in any way and stresses he was not a child sexual abuser himself.
The three companies named in Schneider’s lawsuit have yet to publicly respond.
