An investigation into Dan Schneider, a former top producer at Nickelodeon who was let go in 2018, has shed light on new allegations of misconduct during his reign at the children’s cable network, where he allegedly fostered a “maddening, disgusting, controlling little bubble.”
The Business Insider story published Tuesday reported how Schneider — who was once described by The New York Times as “the Norman Lear of children’s television” — allegedly insisted on hyper-sexualized content in his shows, “the most revealing” teen costumes and male-dominated writers rooms and that he also asked for on-set massages. The piece said that the showrunner “created an uncomfortable, bizarre environment that he ruled over like a fiefdom”; it comes on the heels of parallel allegations against an unnamed “Creator” in “iCarly” star Jennette McCurdy’s bestselling memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died.”
Writers, actors and crew members told Insider that they were disturbed by sexualized scenes in Schneider’s scripts, such as a goo pop shot on “Zoey 101" that mimicked a sex act and involved a young Jamie Lynn Spears. Another instance involved a teenage Victoria Justice having food rubbed on her bare stomach in “Victorious” online extras. Schneider also allegedly created a hostile work environment and traumatized many, the accusers said, all while curating some of the most coveted child acting gigs of the early 2000s.
