TV producer, Dan Schneider has filed a lawsuit against producers of ‘Quiet on Set’ to court, claiming they defamed him by falsely portraying him as a child sexual abuser at Nickelodeon and ruining his reputation.
In the defamation lawsuit obtained by TMZ, he accused the docuseries and its creators including Warner Bros. Discovery, Maxine Productions, Sony Pictures Television and others, for falsely implying he sexually abused the child actors who worked on his shows years ago.
He described “Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV” as a “hit job.” Dan created “The Amanda Show,” “Drake & Josh,” “Zoey 101,” “iCarly” and “Victorious” during his tenure at Nickelodeon and in ‘QOS,’ he was the main focus.
Dan alleged the docuseries used manipulative editing techniques to create a false impression of Schneider. The suit claims the defendants tried to lump Schneider into the same bucket as 2 other convicted child sex offenders who worked on some of the Nickelodeon shows. He says the defendants did it all for “clickbait, ratings, and views or simply put, money.”
He said;
“Schneider had no knowledge of their abuse, was not complicit in the abuse, condemned the abuse once it was discovered and, critically, was not a child sexual abuser himself.”
The TV producer went on to claim ‘QOS’ used misleading statements and editing techniques in the trailer and several episodes to falsely create the impression he was a paedophile. For instance, his lawyer pointed out the trailer, where his rise and success at Nickelodeon was tied to what the series described as “one of the darkest chapters.”
The trailer then cut to a “True Crime Event” graphic … falsely implying the producer had committed a crime against children. The suit claims producers deliberately ignored people who would undercut their narrative.
Schneider does, however, concede in the lawsuit he was blind to some of his bad behaviour toward colleagues, subordinates and cast members, but insists such behaviour was not in any way connected to child sex abuse.
He told TMZ;
“Recently the docuseries Quiet on Set highlighted mistakes I made and poor judgment I exhibited during my time at Nickelodeon, most of which happened decades ago during my early career as a producer, working on shows for Tollin/Robbins Productions. There is no doubt that I was sometimes a bad leader. I am sincerely apologetic and regretful for that behaviour, and I will continue to take accountability for it.
“They went beyond reporting the truth and falsely implied that I was involved in or facilitated horrific crimes for which actual child predators have been prosecuted and convicted. I have no objection to anyone highlighting my failures as a boss, but it is wrong to mislead millions of people to the false conclusion that I was in any way involved in heinous acts like those committed by child predators.”
Dan is suing for defamation and seeking unspecified damages, including punitive, claiming he has suffered mental distress and financial losses as a result of the docuseries.
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