Opening up about his past professional regrets in response to Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set, showrunner Dan Schneider expressed remorse over asking staffers for massages.
“It was wrong,” Dan, 58, said emphatically during a YouTube interview published on Tuesday, March 19, with iCarly actor BooG!e. “I’d never do it today. I’m embarrassed that I did it then. I apologize to anybody that I ever put in that situation.”
The writer behind hit childhood shows like Drake & Josh, Zoey 101 and The Amanda Show continued, saying that he additionally regrets putting observers in awkward scenarios.
“Even additionally I apologize to the people who were walking around Video Village or wherever they happened because there were lots of people there who witnessed it who also may have felt uncomfortable,” Dan continued, echoing the statement that was released by his representative amid Quiet on Set’s premiere.
“Dan deeply regrets asking anyone for neck massages,” the statement issued amid Quiet on Set read. “Though they happened in public settings, he knows this was highly inappropriate and would never happen again.”
Dan’s addressing of his massage requests came as part of a larger conversation about the Investigation Discovery documentary, which exposed the underbelly of the hit Nickelodeon shows he was a major player in.
“Watching over the past two nights was very difficult, me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret,” Dan started, saying that he owes “some people a pretty strong apology.”
The showrunner admitted to “snapping” at staffers and being “snarky” with them, saying that he would “not give people the time that they needed” from him.
“I definitely at times didn’t give people the best of me. I didn’t show enough patience … I wish I could go back to those earlier years of my career and bring the growth and the experience that I have now and just do a better job,” Dan said, while acknowledging several other components of the documentary.
Most notably, Dan recalled learning about the sexual abuse allegations made against voice coach Brian Peck by Drake Bell, saying that he was “devastated” by the young star’s experience. “I did not hire Brian Peck,” Dan maintained, before calling Drake’s experience the “darkest part” of his career.
“He went to court when this guy was being tried, Peck, and when Drake walked in he saw 50 people sitting on the side of the courtroom supporting Peck. A lot of them pretty famous. Of course Drake was devastated that that happened,” Dan continued. “Even more disappointing, 41 of those people wrote letters for Peck. Character letters, praising him for who he was and asking for leniency. They knew that he was guilty. They knew he had confessed to some degree and they still did this. It’s baffling that adults would do that.”
Brian ultimately pleaded no contest to oral copulation with a minor under 16 and performing a lewd act with a 14- or -15-year old and was sentenced to 16 months behind bars. He went on to work on other children’s programming, including The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
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