(Image via nick.com)
Staff Writer: Olivia Beaudette
Email: obeaudette@umassd.edu
On March 17, a documentary was released about the dark events behind the scenes of many Nickelodeon shows. This series was focused on Dan Schneider and what happened around him and his shows.
There are four episodes, each focusing on a different area of issues in Nickelodeon.
Episode 1:
Dan Schneider is the man behind the most popular shows on Nickelodeon, starting with the show “All That,” where the abusive and power-hungry Dan Schneider begins.
The first episode begins by explaining how Dan landed his job at Nickelodeon. He started with minor acting roles, eventually leading him to write and sell scripts, which led to Nickelodeon hiring him.
In episode 1, they introduce a woman named Katrina Johnson. Katrina was a leading star on “All That” from ages ten to sixteen.
When they filmed the pilot, Dan showed great affection for Katrina. He told her, “I choose you; you are my choice. And I know you’re gonna be great.” From then on, Dan and Katrina spent much time together pitching ideas for the show.
After some time, producers called Katrina’s mom to pitch the idea of the Katrina Johnson show; however, things never developed.
Producers called Katrina’s mother again, this time to tell her mom that she was getting too “fat” and that they claimed to have a “fat one already” and couldn’t have another one.
Once she hit puberty, Katrina had less screen time until Amanda Bynes pushed her away.
People said that Dan created a fun set and that things were always very light at the beginning, but as Dan gained more power and success, the atmosphere started to change heavily.
Although the set felt fun, the child actors often felt that they couldn’t go against Dan in any way because it was made to seem that Dan was the only way they would be successful. It was important for everyone to be on Dan’s good side, and he made it obvious which people were on his good versus who wasn’t.
Another old child star named Leon Frierson shares his uncomfortable experiences on Nickelodeon. For example, he had to wear tights and leotards often. As a young boy, he felt extremely vulnerable and uncomfortable in those costumes.
One costume specifically was for a superhero called Nose Boy; this costume had a prosthetic nose on Leon and enlarged fake noses on the shoulders. However, the part of this costume that made it weird was that people thought it resembled more of a penis than a nose.
This was one of many examples of weird or uncomfortable jokes and characters Dan created.
Dan also created the character “Penelope Taynt,” played by Amanda Bynes. Dan knowingly chose the last name “Taynt” even though he knew its inappropriate meaning.
He made it very clear that he wanted to keep it secret that the name was inappropriate.
Dan formed a close relationship with Amanda Bynes, whom he discovered at a comedy show. She became a massive star on “All That” and eventually got her show, “The Amanda Show,” which wasn’t long after Katrina was offered her show and pushed out.
During recording, the kids were expected to have three hours of school. Amanda was also missing during this time, and the kids were told she was with Dan, pitching ideas and writing.
It was also very common for Dan and Amanda to be together. She was often seen giving Dan neck massages or hugging from behind.
While filming “The Amanda Show,” Dan had two female writers whose salaries he split between them, but none of the men had to get less money.
These women also describe working with Dan as an “abusive relationship.”
Dan made his females very uncomfortable and feel unsafe because he would degrade the women and treat them differently than the men.
Dan would push the women, and eventually, they both left. One was fired for taking two personal days, and the other quit four days into season two after Dan created an uncomfortable situation for her.
Episode 2:
Episode 2 introduces the mother of Brandi, who had a traumatic experience with Nickelodeon’s production assistant, Jason Handy.
Brandi emailed Jason back and forth after she was in a scene of “All That.” These emails started as harmless until one day, Brandi was on the computer, shut it down, and went to her room, where her mom found her crying. Brandi then told her mom that Jason had sent her a picture of himself naked and masturbating, and in the email, he said he sent her the photo to show her that he was thinking about her.
At the time, Brandi’s mom didn’t know what to do, so instead of calling the police, she just made sure she kept Brani away from Jason.
In April 2003, Jason Handy was arrested for child pornography. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
Dan saw very highly of himself; in an episode of “All That,” there is a scene where the kids receive a call from Dan, and after they hang up, they start to refer to Dan as a God.
With the child laws preventing the children from working too many hours, they kept the children past the time and were not paid.
With the hostile environment, there was also racism within the set. One of the old cast members of “All That” talks about an experience where he was getting shade matched for a full-body suit, and the person making the costume said it needed to be the color “charcoal.”
Dan also wouldn’t let his editors leave to use the bathroom or eat. He only wanted them to work to make sure everything was completed when he wanted.
Four months after Jason’s arrest, another crew member, Brian Peck, was arrested.
Brian was the set’s dialogue coach, trusted and liked by everyone.
Brian hosted a barbecue where he proudly showed off his painting and letter from serial killer John Wayne Gacy and shared that he had a pen pal relationship with Gacy.
After this barbecue, people started to be weary of Brian, and soon after, he was arrested for 11 charges of child sexual abuse.
These charges were related to a child actor.
Episode 3:
Episode 3 is about Drake Bell, Brian Peck’s sexual abuse victim.
Drake Bell has been acting since he was five, and through this time, he became close with his father, who was his manager.
When Nickelodeon moved to Nick on Sunset, Drake met Brian.
Drake’s dad was always very aware of Brian and Drake’s relationship; he would never let the two be alone together. Brian was always trying to be around Drake; he would always touch or be near him.
Drake’s dad spoke out about how he was uncomfortable with this behavior, but this was just brushed off as him being homophobic because “Brian is gay and just a touchy guy.”
After this, Brian started to trick Drake into getting rid of his dad by saying things like parents shouldn’t be managers and that he is stealing your money. Since Drake was young, he believed it.
After Drake pushed his dad out, he began spending even more time with Brian. He would stay at Brian’s house the night because it was “easier.”
At this point, things got terrible for Drake. One time, when Drake was at his girlfriend’s house, Brian kept calling and then called his girlfriend’s house phone.
Drake was supposed to go to Disney with Brian, but Drake didn’t want to, which made Brian upset.
Drake’s girlfriend’s mom knew something was wrong, and when she asked Drake about it, he just brushed it off. When she brought Drake to a therapist, he continued to brush things off.
One day, Drake was on the phone with his mom, and he exploded. He revealed to his mother that Brian had sexually abused him.
It took no time before Drake was talking to detectives, giving every detail about the abuse. Then he called Brian to get a confession, which he did. Brian confessed to everything.
All the abuse started when Drake was sleeping on Brian’s couch like he usually would. He was woken up by Brian sexually assaulting him. Drake was only 15.
Drake describes the abuse as “extensive” and “brutal.” He also described the abuse as “the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody.”
In August 2003, Brian was arrested for a long list of horrible acts.
Drake called his dad to tell him the news about Brian’s arrest. His dad was relieved to hear that he had been arrested, but he was also under the impression that Drake wasn’t the victim.
He claims he is not the same person since finding out Drake was the victim.
Episode 4:
On the day of Brian’s sentencing, Drake was shocked to see that Brian’s whole side was full of people supporting him, and his side was only him, his mother, and his brother.
When Drake gave his statement, he didn’t address it to Brian. He addressed it to the people supporting him. In this statement, Drake says, “How dare you?” to the people in support of Brian.
He continued saying, “You will forever have the memory of sitting in this courtroom defending this person. And I will forever have the memory of the person who you’re defending, violating me, and doing unspeakable acts and crimes. And that’s what I’ll remember.
There were a total of 41 letters written in support of Brian. Up until the documentary, those letters were sealed. When they were unsealed, it was revealed that many of the letters contained victim blaming as a way to prove Brian’s innocence.
Brian received only 16 months in jail and was registered as a sex offender.
After Brian was released, he got a job on the Disney show “Suite Life of Zack and Cody.”
Other than Jason and Brian, there was also another child predator named Ezell Channel who was arrested for molestation.
While all of these arrests were going on, Dan kept up with filming, but now he was starting to film himself around a set where he would record the cast, and many of the videos appeared to have made the cast very uncomfortable.
Dan continued gaining more power and creating more shows, which also led to more inappropriate content in the shows.
Jennette McCurdy was a big star on Nickelodeon. She published a book where she talked about the abuse from her mother as well as the abuse from a producer whom she called the Creator. Many believe this to be about Dan.
Dan was known to humiliate people for small mistakes, sometimes even firing them. Dan also pushed people too hard. After Jennette’s mother died, she went back to work after only a week’s break.
After this short break, there was an internal investigation. This resulted in Dan being banned from working with the cast directly; however, Dan claims he “chose to give notes from his office.”
After the MeToo movement, people became more comfortable discussing their mistreatment when working with Dan.
In 2017, another investigation took place, and Nickelodeon parted ways with Dan after the investigation.
There was no evidence of sexual abuse with the children, but there was evidence of abuse to others in the workplace.
Since Dan left, things were happier on set, but this happiness doesn’t make up for the low self-esteem and mental burnout these child stars experienced.
With the light being shined on the mistreatment within children’s television, it can now be the start towards giving these children the proper protection and preventing another Dan Schneider from being in charge.