When codirectors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz dove into making Quiet on Set: The Darkish Facet of Children TV, an Investigation Discovery docuseries about alleged abuse and exploitation at children’ community Nickelodeon, they created an inventory of names. “We actually put collectively a spreadsheet,” Schwartz just lately instructed Vainness Honest. “We known as all people we might discover on IMDb who had been in crew, who had been in solid, and simply individuals throughout the business. You speak to extra individuals and speak to extra individuals. Taking time to construct a relationship, to construct belief, to get to know individuals and perceive what’s vital to them.”

Amongst those that spoke to the filmmakers have been former little one star Drake Bell, who in between roles on Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Present and Drake & Josh says he suffered sexual abuse by the hands of his vocal coach Brian Peck, whom he met on set. When requested to get into specifics concerning the abuse, Bell recommended that somebody may “consider the worst stuff that somebody might do to anyone as a sexual assault—and that’ll reply your query.” In October 2004, Peck was convicted on sexual abuse costs, sentenced to 16 months in jail, and ordered to register as a intercourse offender.

By sharing his story, Bell joins former Nick stars like Alexa Nikolas (who additionally seems within the collection) and Jennette McCurdy in publicizing alleged wrongdoing on the community that gave them their huge breaks. The four-part collection, which launches into Bell’s account with the ultimate two episodes airing tonight on ID at 9 p.m., has already sparked statements from the likes of Nickelodeon mega-producer Dan Schneider, who is not any stranger to toxicity allegations. Forward, a few of the reactions to the bombshell docuseries.

Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon beforehand mentioned in an announcement to Vainness Honest that it “investigates all complaints as a part of our dedication to fostering a protected and skilled office” and that it has “adopted quite a few safeguards over time.” In an extra remark to Deadline, the community straight addressed the abuse allegations made by one among its largest stars. “Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identification because the plaintiff within the 2004 case, we’re dismayed and saddened to study of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and assist the energy required to come ahead,” Nickelodeon mentioned in an announcement.

Dan Schneider

The title on practically each documentary participant’s lips is Dan Schneider, who created a bevy of hit exhibits for Nickelodeon and confronted quite a few complaints of a hostile work surroundings throughout his tenure. In 2018, Nickelodeon reduce enterprise ties with Schneider. In a earlier assertion, Schneider instructed VF that studies of his abusive conduct in publications similar to Deadline weren’t to blame for the parting of the way. Nevertheless, he maintains: “I’d completely do some issues otherwise. I’ve discovered so much over time about how to be a greater boss.” As for allegations in Quiet on Set about imbuing his kids’s exhibits with subliminal grownup sexuality, Schneider additionally denied these claims. “All the pieces that occurred on the exhibits I ran was scrutinized by dozens of concerned adults,” he mentioned in an announcement. “A requirements and practices group learn and in the end permitted each script, and programming executives reviewed and permitted all episodes.”

Schneider’s consultant supplied the same assertion to Selection concerning the collection, including, “If there was an precise drawback with the scenes that some individuals, now years later are ‘sexualizing,’ they might be taken down, however they aren’t, they’re aired consistently all around the world immediately nonetheless, loved by each children and dad and mom.” The assertion additionally maintained that “daily on each set, there have been all the time dad and mom and caregivers and their mates watching filming and rehearsals,” including, “Had there been any scenes or outfits that have been inappropriate in any manner, they might have been flagged and blocked by this multilayered scrutiny. Sadly, some adults challenge their grownup minds onto children’ exhibits, drawing false conclusions about them.”

Within the docuseries, some word Schneider’s behavior of asking staff (lots of them feminine) for massages whereas on set. “Dan deeply regrets asking anybody for neck massages,” his crew mentioned in response to Selection. “Although they occurred in public settings, he is aware of this was extremely inappropriate and would by no means occur once more.”

Russell Hicks

The community’s former president of content material and manufacturing referred to Schneider as “probably the most prolific producers of hit tv within the children and household leisure enterprise,” in his personal assertion to Selection. “Dan’s exhibits transcend kids’s tv and are staples on many streaming platforms immediately, loved by each children and their dad and mom,” the assertion continued. “Dan cared concerning the children on his exhibits even when generally their very own households sadly didn’t.” Hicks concluded that “each single factor that Dan ever did on any of his exhibits was fastidiously scrutinized and permitted by executives at Nickelodeon.”

Amy Berg

Amy Berg, who has gone on to write and produce for exhibits together with Jack Ryan and Regulation & Order: Organized Crime, mirrored on her first Hollywood job—as Schneider’s assistant—in an announcement posted to X on Monday. It was a title she held for lower than a 12 months earlier than writing and co-executive producing the ultimate seasons of the Nickelodeon collection, Kenan & Kel and All That. “Throughout my 12 months with Dan, I wasn’t conscious of any bodily inappropriate conduct,” Berg writes. “What I can verify, nonetheless, is that he was a fucking asshole. A psychological tormenter. He launched me to panic assaults and the stress of working for him brought on me to develop a big coronary heart arrhythmia. I ultimately had surgical procedure to [mostly] appropriate the problem, however by that time I’d misplaced all of my 20s. He stole these years from me.”