Dan Schneider, the creator and producer of multiple hit Nickelodeon shows, has responded to accusations that he fostered an unsafe work environment on his TV sets after they were detailed in the recent documentary series Quiet on Set
The four-part Investigation Discovery series, which aired on Max on March 16 and 17, features Kyle Sullivan and other All That cast members, including Giovonnie Samuels and Katrina Johnson, talking about their experiences on the sets of popular Nickelodeon shows from the 2000s like Drake & Josh, The Amanda Show, iCarly, Victorious, Sam & Cat, and Zoey 101, which Schneider created and produced. The docuseries highlights multiple inappropriate moments from different Schneider shows, including times when child actors were put in compromising positions and made jokes that were not appropriate for children. One of the examples that is shown to Marc Summers, the former host of a popular Nickelodeon show called Double Dare, is Ariana Grande as Cat Valentine (a character in Victorious and Sam & Cat) inappropriately handling a potato.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]On Tuesday, Schneider released a 19-minute video on his YouTube channel featuring an interview with BooG!E, who played T-Bo on iCarly, to talk about this reaction to the series, which he said was “difficult” to watch. According to a representative for Schneider, the interview took place after BooG!E watched the docuseries and asked if he could talk with the producer.
“Me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret. I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology,” Schneider says in the video.
In a statement emailed to TIME, Schneider’s representative says, “Dan apologizes, expresses regret and embarrassment and holds himself accountable for his previous behavior.” According to the statement, Schneider acknowledges he should have “never asked for massages” and “crossed a line in the writers’ room with the jokes that he told and the pranks that he pulled.”
“Dan is calling for some of his old jokes to now be cut from the reruns of his old shows,” the representative says in the statement. “Dan absolutely never intended for any of those jokes that are now being seen as sexualized content to be anything other than funny for kids.”
Watching the series, Schneider says he “could see the hurt in some people’s eyes” and said that it made him “feel awful and regretful and sorry.” He says that he wishes he could go back and “just do a better job and never, ever feel like it was okay to be an asshole to anyone, ever.” He also addressed actor Drake Bell saying in the series that he was sexually assaulted by former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck, saying Bell confided in him at the time and told him what happened.
Schneider maintains that he was “there for these young actors often when nobody else was” and denies that any of his relationships with them were inappropriate, according to the statement. “It is not accurate or even ok in any way to imply that his relationship with any of the actors was in any way inappropriate, that’s just not true.”
This interview comes a day after The Hollywood Reporter published a statement from Schneider denying having fostered a toxic work environment and “sexualizing” child actors. “Everything that happened on the shows Dan ran was carefully scrutinized by dozens of involved adults, and approved by the network,” says the statement. “Had there been any scenes or outfits that were inappropriate in any way, they would have been flagged and blocked by this multilayered scrutiny.”
