Now that Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, an Investigation Discovery docuseries about alleged abuse and exploitation at kids’ network Nickelodeon, has aired in full, the once-celebrated network mogul Dan Schneider is apologizing on camera for the first time.
Schneider, who has long faced toxicity allegations and parted ways with Nickelodeon in 2018, previously shared a statement regarding the docuseries with Vanity Fair, but went into more detail in a newly released video. He is interviewed by BooG!e, who played the character of T-Bo on Schneider’s iCarly. The performer said he approached the producer after watching Quiet on Set. “BooG!e wants to make clear though that he is not a journalist and wasn’t trying to be,” a spokesperson for Schneider tells VF. “He was offering to provide a platform for Dan to confront a lot of his previous behaviors.”
“Watching over the past two nights was very difficult,” Schneider began in the sit-down. “Me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret. I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.” He continued, “When I watched the show, I could see the hurt in some people’s eyes, and it made me feel awful and regretful and sorry. I wish I could go back, especially to those earlier years of my career, and bring the growth and the experience that I have now, and just do a better job. And never, ever feel like it was okay to be an asshole to anyone, ever.”
One of the biggest bombshells from the series is a revelation from former child star Drake Bell, who said that in between roles on Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh, he was sexually abused by his vocal coach, Brian Peck, whom he met on set. In October 2004, Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison after being convicted on sexual abuse charges, and ordered to register as a sex offender.
“When Drake and I talked and he told me about what had happened, I was more devastated by that than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far. And I told him, ‘I’m here for you,’” Schneider said in the video. At another point, he teared up when claiming that Bell’s mother approached him for help in writing a speech to read at Peck’s trial. “She came to me at the time, and she said, ‘Dan, I’m not good with words like you are. And would you help me with my speech for the judge? I said, ‘Of course.’ I did, and he [Peck] ended up going to prison and serving his time.”
The producer called this “the darkest part of my career” and said he still doesn’t know why Peck was allowed to continue working on children’s programming after his prison stint. “He was hired on a Disney Channel show,” said Schneider. “I don’t understand that.” (According to Variety, Peck was terminated after Disney learned of his history.)