CONTENT WARNING: This article discusses allegations of sexism and child sexual abuse.
The much-anticipated documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV — which dives into allegations of sexual abuse on the set of Nickelodeon‘s most popular children’s shows — has aired in the US. And it’s about to air in Australia, too.
The documentary investigates allegations of misconduct against Nickelodeon’s infamous golden boy of the ’90s and 2000s Dan Schneider, as well as claims of child sexual abuse at the hands of Nickelodeon staff.
Its producers interviewed former writers, editors and directors of Nickelodeon shows, as well as child stars and their parents.
Where to watch Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV in Australia
The four-part documentary aired in the US in March, but was set to air in Australia weeks later.
The first two episodes of Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV will premiere in Australia on Friday, April 5 on Foxtel at 9.30pm. You can also stream it on BINGE. The following two episodes will be available to stream on Saturday, April 6. A new fifth episode, titled Breaking the Silence, will premiere on April 19.
In the meantime, we’ve rounded up the worst of the documentary’s findings for you to read about below. Be warned though: the allegations the documentary presents are harrowing.
All the disturbing allegations Quiet on Set made against Nickelodeon
Dan Schneider’s writing rooms were a terrifying place to be a woman
Christy Stratton, one of the writers behind The Amanda Show, told Quiet on Set producers that “working with Dan was like being in an abusive relationship”.
The Amanda Show was the first time Schneider was made creator of the show — giving him an unprecedented amount of power over his teams and the work environment.
She and Jenny Kilgen, a fellow female writer, allege they were made to split one salary between the two of them while their male counterparts were on full salaries of their own.
Kilgen alleged Schneider made comments in the writing room about how women couldn’t write comedy, or that they weren’t funny — and challenged staff to name a funny female writer while Kilgen and Stratton were in the room.
“Being dirty was part of the silliness,” Stratton said.
She alleged Schneider would frequently make dirty jokes, and that he would sometimes instant message staff a phrase that they were expected to shout out loud. Sometimes the phrases were funny and innocent, but other times they were degrading: he allegedly would ask writers to shout out that they were an “idiot” or “slut”.
The writers also alleged that Schneider ask for massages and joked that in exchange he would put the writers’ scripts in the show. However, they felt there implications that saying no to his requests could result in being fired.
“I felt that Dan could be very volatile and could turn any moment,” Stratton said. “I was scared.”
Kilgen alleged Schneider would play porn on his computer screen in front of them.
Even more horrifying, Kilgen also alleged that at one point Stratton was telling a story about highschool and while she was speaking, Schneider told her that the story would be funnier if she said it while bending over a table and pretending to be sodomised. They were surrounded by other male writers.
Kilgen alleged that Stratton initially said no, but the atmosphere became extremely tense and Schneider insisted she do so and would not take no for an answer. Eventually, humiliated, she did the act.
Kilgen said it was extremely distressing to witness, and Stratton told Quiet on Set producers she did not want to talk about it. However, she did admit that it happened.
“It was probably the wrongest thing I’ve ever seen happen to a woman in a professional environment, ever,” Kilgen said.
Stratton was fired eventually — Kilgen alleges this was because there were two incidents where she spent time with friends on a weekend, when the expectation was the writers were to be available for Schneider every day of the week.
Kilgen was offered a 16-week contract for Season Two of of The Amanda Show, as the only female writer, but was told she would have to work an extra 11 weeks unpaid. She accepted despite her devastation at still being treated as inferior to her male counterparts.
Four days into the role, Kilgen alleges Schneider called all the male staff into a meeting, leaving her alone outside. He then eventually called her inside, in a tense setting, asked her to pitch — while surrounded by her male colleagues. When she did, he allegedly interrupted her and asked: “Didn’t you used to do phone sex?”
Kilgen responded that no, she did not, but she alleges Schneider insisted she did while she stood there as the only female in the room. She felt degraded and humiliated, left the office in tears, and quit that day.
A spokesperson for Schneider said that he is “extremely sorry for his behaviour that contributed to that environment and he has grown a lot since then. That behaviour is clearly wrong and not for the workplace, and certainly he would never act that way again.”
The editor of The Amanda Show said Schneider and Amanda Bynes were very close
Former Nickelodeon star Katrina Johnson said she felt Amanda Bynes was Dan Schneider’s new star, his prodigy.
Leon Frierson, a fellow All That star, claimed that while they attended school for a few hours a day on set, Bynes would be “missing” — she was apparently working on scripts with Schneider and being mentored by him personally.
“I definitely saw Amanda being very close physically with Dan,” editor of The Amanda Show, Karyn Finley Thompson, stated.
She alleged she often saw them hugging, with Bynes wrapping her arms around Schneider from behind or giving him neck massages.
Thompson said she felt a scene the two did where Bynes and Schneider were in a hot tub together was “odd”. Bynes was in a swimsuit, and Schneider was fully clothed.
“Dan deeply regrets asking anyone for neck massages,” a spokesperson for Schneider saidin response to the allegations.
“Though they happened in public settings, he knows this was highly inappropriate and would never happen again.”
Racist sketches on All That
Bryan Christopher Hearne appeared on seasons seven and eight of All That.
In Quiet on Set, he alleged he was made to perform racist Black stereotypes.
He pointed to the time he portrayed the youngest ever rapper, “Lil Fetus”. He had to wear a skin-tight body suit for the role, and alleges he overheard someone on set say that the “skin tone should be charcoal.” He said the comment made him cry.
Hearne noted he was also written into a scene that involved hustling Girl Scout-type cookies, like someone might deal drugs.
“They set up the scene as if he was selling drugs,” his mother said of the skit. “And I was like, ‘Oh, the Black kid gets to be the crack dealer?’”
Hearn said he felt Schneider “had a nicer relationship with some of the other white kids.”
“My time on Nickelodeon played a big part in how I dealt and still deal with racial issues,” he said.
Nickelodeon producers fat-shamed a child star
Katrina Johnson, who was on All That between 1994 and 1997, alleged that producers of the show called her parents and told them she needed to lose weight.
“One day the producers called my house and spoke to my parents and said, ‘Hey, Katrina’s getting too fat. We already have a fat one, she can’t be the fat one,’” she alleged in Quiet on Set.
“I mean, that stuck with me. ‘You can’t be the fat one.’ I still hear those words in my head to this day.”
A Nickelodeon production assistant tried to groom a child star
The mother of Brandi, a child star from The Amanda Show, recalled the story of her daughter being groomed by convicted pedophile Jason Michael Handy.
Handy was a production assistant on the show, and his job often involved walking children from set to set.
The mother, only known as MJ, said he seemed like a nice guy and she felt like she could be friends with him. One day, Brandi — who joined the show when she was 11 — told MJ that Handy had asked if he could start emailing her. MJ couldn’t see any harm in it and allowed this contact. She thought perhaps it could help Brandi to have a friend in the industry.
However, she noticed that one night, her daughter switched the computer off suddenly, ran to her room and slammed the door. In tears, Brandi told MJ that Handy had sent her an image of himself naked and masturbating.
“He said he sent it to her because he wanted for her to see he was thinking of her,” MJ said.
However, she didn’t report it to police because she felt she would be judged as a “bad mother”. Instead, she pulled Brandi from the show.
In 2003, police found more than 10,000 images of children — more than 1,000 of which were of girls in sexual circumstances — in Handy’s home.
There were also bags that contained “tokens” from his victims, including underwear from a seven-year-old girl.
In 2004, Handy was sentenced to six years in prison after pleading contest to two felony counts involving two victims, one of whom was Brandi.
Drake Bell was sexually assaulted by Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck
Last week, Drake Bell made headlines after he revealed in a Quiet on Set preview that he was the unnamed child star who was sexually abused by Nickelodeon staff member Brian Peck in the early 2000s.
Brian Peck was a dialogue coach at the time, though he had worked on multiple Nickelodeon shows.
Peck would take him to auditions, Bell said, and then tell him it was too late to drive him home and instead have him sleep over. One night, Bell woke up on the couch — where he said he always slept — and Peck was sexually assaulting him.
“I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react,” Bell said.
“I had no idea how to get out of the situation.”
Bell described the sexual abuse as “extensive” and said “it got pretty brutal.”
“Why don’t you think of the worst stuff someone can do to somebody as a sexual assault and that’ll answer your question. I don’t know how else to put it,” he said.
Drake Bell felt supported by Dan Schneider
Unlike some of the child stars who became famous in the early 2000s, Bell said he felt supported by infamous Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider, who he had a good relationship with.
“Really the only person that I remember being there for me was Dan,” he said.
“Unfortunately, there was no therapy and I was left to my own devices…which at that age probably isn’t the best thing.”
James Marsden was among the people who wrote letters supporting Drake Bell’s abuser
James Marsden, The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh actor Taran Killam, Boy Meets World actors Will Friedle and Rider Strong, and Growing Pains parents Alan Thicke and Joanna Kerns were just some of the 41 people who wrote letters in support of Peck during his sentencing in 2004.
At the time, Marsden wrote: “What Brian has been through in the last year is the suffering of a hundred men.”
Boy Meets World‘s Friedle and Strong have both expressed deep regret about the letters.
“By the time we heard about this case and knew anything about it, it was always in the context of, ‘I did this thing, I am guilty. I am going to take whatever punishment the government determines, but I’m a victim of jailbait. There was this hot guy. I just did this thing, and he’s underage.’ And we bought that storyline,” Strong said.
Friedle recalled what it was like witnessing the sentencing.
“We’re sitting in that courtroom on the wrong side of everything. The victim’s mother turned and said, ‘Look at all the famous people you brought with you. And it doesn’t change what you did to my kid.’ I just sat there wanting to die,” he said.
“It was like, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ It was horrifying all the way around.”
Help is available.
- If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
- If you’d like to speak to someone about sexual violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
- Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
