Max docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids’ TV knocked the legacy of Nickelodeon and shocked the entertainment industry as a whole, thanks to its tragic and alarming expose of the sexual abuse and other mistreatment suffered by many Nickelodeon stars of the 1990s and 2000s. Generally on set of series helmed by former Nickelodeon golden boy, Dan Schneider.
The network already ended its working relationship with Schneider back in 2019, in the face of misconduct allegations and various other inappropriate behavior from his past coming to light in the wake of the #MeToo era. However, Quiet on Set has certainly caused Schneider’s reputation to sink even further, which is why the former producer is now hitting back at the series’ creators with a defamation lawsuit.
Dan Schneider is suing Investigation Discovery for defamation
Schneider, whose hit shows include Drake and Josh, iCarly, and The Amanda Show, filed a defamation lawsuit against Quiet on Set helmers Investigation Discovery on Wednesday, May 1, on the grounds that the show is guilty of “falsely implying” he sexually abused children who worked on his various series.
Schneider’s lawsuit claims that his portrayal in Quiet on Set is a “hit job” and that, while he cannot deny that two child sexual abusers were employed on his Nickelodeon series, he had “no knowledge of their abuse” and “was not a child sexual abuser himself.” The filing argues that “for the sake of clickbait, ratings, and views — or put differently, money — Defendants have destroyed Schneider’s reputation and legacy through the false statements and implications that Schneider is exactly that,”
Alongside Investigation Discovery, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery and production companies Maxine Productions and Sony Pictures Television are likewise named in the filing. Schneider is seeking unspecified damages as well as a court order that would force producers to either remove the passages of the five-part series he deems defamatory or else wipe the documentary from streaming all together. This is likely to be something WBD would like to avoid at all costs as Quiet on Set became the most-watched Max TV title ever when it debuted on March 17.
In a statement released alongside the lawsuit, Schneider admitted that he may be guilty of “mistakes I made and poor judgment I exhibited during my time at Nickelodeon.” However, he maintains that he had “no choice but to take legal action against the people behind [Quiet on Set].” Schneider continued: “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.”
The lawsuit specifies various instances in the program that Schneider and his representatives allege employ a “manipulative use of editing and photographs to conflate Schneider” with convicted abuser Brian Peck, who assaulted Drake Bell when he was 15 years old. Episode 1, for instance, ends with discussion of a “suspected child predator,” but no pictorial evidence of them is shown. Schneider alleges this was done to encourage viewers to conclude that he himself was the predator.
“The only reason to include Schneider’s image in this context was to falsely equate Schneider with Peck; the viewer is left to infer that just as Peck was a child sexual abuser, so was Schneider,” the complaint reads.
The key accusation here is that Schneider is claiming that producers acted with “actual malice and purposeful disregard for the truth” regarding his portrayal in the series. This alleged intent is the big thing that Schneider and his lawyers will have to prove if they’re going to successfully sue Quiet on Set. No court date has yet been arranged.