The recent documentary series Investigation Discovery Silence on set: the dark side of children’s TV detailed a variety of alleged crimes and mismanagement behind the scenes at Nickelodeon and its series of children’s sitcoms during the 1990s. The accusations contained ranged from overwork to allegations of child sexual abuse.
Much of the series’ screen time was devoted to Dan Schneider, who was a huge figure at Nickelodeon during that period as a producer of shows such as All of this, Drake and Josh, Amanda’s show, Icarly, and others. The program alleged, among other things, that Schneider made inappropriate jokes and asked female employees for massages. Schneider ended his Nickelodeon affiliation in 2018 after many of these allegations became public.
Shortly after Silence on the set debuted, Schneider released a video on YouTube where he detailed his side of the story. In it, he admitted that some of his “past behaviors” had been “embarrassing” and added, “I definitely owe some people a strong apology.”
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But now Schneider has sued Investigation Discovery for defamation arising from Silence on the set. Your process, according to Varietyclaims the program was a “successful scam” that “destroyed Schneider’s reputation and legacy.”
“While it is indisputable that two bona fide child sexual abusers worked on Nickelodeon programs,” the lawsuit says, “it is equally indisputable that Schneider had no knowledge of the abuse, was not complicit in the abuse, and condemned the abuse as soon as it was discovered. and, crucially, he himself was not a child sexual abuser. But for the sake of clickbait, ratings and views – or, put another way, money – the defendants destroyed Schneider’s reputation and legacy through false statements and implications that Schneider is just that.”
Variety also cited a statement from Schneider that said in part “There is no doubt that I have been a bad leader at times. I sincerely apologize and regret this behavior and will continue to take responsibility for it.”
“However,” continued Schneider, “after seeing Silence on the set and its trailer, and the reactions to them, I unfortunately have no choice but to take legal action against the people behind it. In their successful attempt to deceive viewers and increase ratings, they went beyond reporting the truth and falsely insinuated that I was involved in or facilitated horrific crimes for which real child predators were prosecuted and convicted.”
Silence on the set is currently streaming Max.. You can watch the initial video that Schneider made talking about the series below.
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