Last month, former Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy’s memoir “I’m Glad My Mom Died” – which includes dark revelations about working with Dan Schneider, the creator of multiple shows for the network – was released.
Since then, other stars connected to the network have come forward with their own stories about Schneider.
An excerpt of McCurdy’s book published in Vanity Fair details a dinner where she claimed Schneider (who she calls “The Creator”) goaded her into drinking alcohol even though she was only 18.
“The Creator hands me his glass and I take a sip,” McCurdy, now 30, wrote. “I hate it.”
She also explains how he would try to turn cast members of his shows, many who were teens like McCurdy, against each other. Just some of Schneider’s programs for the Nickelodeon entertainment network included “iCarly” and “Sam & Cat” featuring McCurdy, as well as the Jamie Lynn Spears vehicle “Zoey 101” and the Victoria Justice vehicle “Victorious”. These shows ran from roughly 2005 through 2014.
Schneider, 56, started off as an actor in the 1980s and later added producing to his resumé. He also created the Amanda Bynes shows “The Amanda Show” and “What I Like About You” that ran from 1999 to 2006 and founded a production company called “Schneider’s Bakery”.
In addition to McCurdy, a recent Business Insider report cited by The Cut included unsavory stories about Schneider from “Victorious” star Daniella Monet and “Zoey 101” star Alexa Nikolas.
Although Monet, 33, said most of her experience on the show was positive, she recalled being uncomfortable about an episode that she said was “sexualized.” In particular, she mentioned a scene where she was required to eat a pickle while applying lip gloss.
Nikolas, 30, has recently been outspoken on social media about not feeling protected while she worked for Nickelodeon. She said she remembered Spears getting hit in the face with the network’s signature green slime while filming “Zoey 101” when she was a minor.
“I think Jamie was 13, and they’re squirting stuff on her face to make it look a certain way,” said Nikolas.
In an interview posted on Nikolas’ “eatpredators” Patreon page, she said that she did not experience the “alcohol part” with Schneider, but that McCurdy’s depiction of him in the memoir is accurate.
“It was straight up how I experienced him as well,” said Nikolas, who also said he was verbally abusive.
She claimed that Schneider once yelled at her in front of executives and brought her to tears. Though she was soon after released from her contract, Nikolas added that she was “so happy to get out of there.”
Angelique Bates, 41, appeared on “All That”, an earlier show Schneider worked on for Nickelodeon that ran from 1994 to 2005. She said that Schneider’s yelling and aggression once reduced her to tears as well.
Kayla Alpert, a writer for “All That”, also claimed that Schneider told her that women weren’t funny on her very first day of work. This week, she retweeted a Buzzfeed article about the allegations against Schneider.
An unnamed source said Alpert’s claim is “untrue” and told Business Insider that Schneider “really likes Tina Fey.” That outlet also said that many of the 15 former actors they spoke with maintained good relationships with him.
In a New York Times profile published last year, Schneider said he never acted inappropriately with people with whom he worked.
“I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t have the long-term friendships and continued loyalty from so many reputable people if I’d mistreated my actors of any age, especially minors,” he told the outlet.
In 2018, Deadline reported that Nickelodeon had parted ways with Schneider and included a mention of “multiple complaints of abusive behavior against Schneider filed by members of his staff.” A recent reboot of “iCarly” was launched without him.
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