Dan Schneider Sues ‘Quiet on Set’ for Defamation
Former Nickelodeon showrunner Dan Schneider has filed a defamation lawsuit over Investigation Discovery’s bombshell docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
The five-part docuseries aired earlier this yr and featured many former little one actors sharing allegations of abuse and misconduct whereas they labored on a number of wildly fashionable Nickelodeon reveals in the course of the Nineties and 2000s. Schneider created and oversaw many of those reveals, and the docuseries included numerous claims in opposition to him, together with gender discrimination, overlooking actors of colours, making inappropriate jokes, and asking workers for massages. (Schneider addressed these claims in an apology launched after the present aired.)
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Whereas Quiet on Set did embrace allegations tied to two convicted sex offenders who labored on a few of these applications, Brian Peck and Jason Helpful, no such allegations have ever been leveled in opposition to Schneider. Nevertheless, his new lawsuit obtained by Rolling Stone argues that Quiet on Set and its trailer have been “purposely and deliberately defamatory in that they falsely and repeatedly state or indicate that Schneider is a baby sexual abuser and dedicated crimes on this regard.”
The swimsuit calls the docuseries’ portrayal of Schneider a “hit job,” including: “Whereas it’s indeniable that two bona fide little one sexual abusers labored on Nickelodeon reveals, it’s likewise indeniable that Schneider had no data of their abuse, was not complicit within the abuse, condemned the abuse as soon as it was found and, critically, was not a baby sexual abuser himself. However for the sake of clickbait, scores, and views — or put otherwise, cash — Defendants have destroyed Schneider’s fame and legacy by means of the false statements and implications that Schneider is strictly that.”
In an announcement, Schneider mentioned, “Of their profitable try and mislead viewers and enhance scores, they went past reporting the reality and falsely implied that I used to be concerned in or facilitated horrific crimes for which precise little one predators have been prosecuted and convicted. I’ve no objection to anybody highlighting my failures as a boss, however it’s incorrect to mislead hundreds of thousands of individuals to the false conclusion that I used to be in any method concerned in heinous acts like these dedicated by little one predators. I owe it to myself, my household, and the numerous great folks concerned in making these reveals to set the report straight.”
A rep for Quiet on Set didn’t instantly return Rolling Stone’s request for remark.
Schneider’s lawsuit outlines a number of alleged methods each Quiet on Set and its trailer created the misunderstanding that he’d been accused of sexual abuse. For example, it notes that, in the course of the first 100 seconds of the trailer, the “solely individual talked about by identify” is Schneider, whereas “variations of his likeness” seem “ten instances.” The swimsuit goes on to notice {that a} voiceover within the trailer describes “a litany of horrific sexual crimes in opposition to kids,” allegedly supposed to get the viewers to ask “who dedicated these crimes.”
The lawsuit claims: “With solely Schneider’s identify and likeness supplied, the implication is evident: It was Schneider. Once more, that is false.”
Per the swimsuit, Episode One in every of Quiet on Set picks up the place the trailer left off, focusing totally on Schneider after which ending with a information clip about law enforcement officials arresting a suspected little one predator, who’s neither named nor proven. Whereas the lawsuit acknowledges that Episode Two does delve into the tales of Peck and Helpful, the swimsuit argues that Episode One “wholly obfuscates the fact by specializing in Schneider — and solely Schneider — whereas offering the viewer with no data to conclude that the predator was anybody apart from Schneider.”
Elsewhere, Schneider’s legal professionals accuse the makers of Quiet on Set of “manipulative” enhancing and images that “conflate Schneider” with Peck and “exaggerates the connection” between the 2. Noting that Schneider denies the docuseries’ declare that Peck “labored carefully with” him and that Peck was “very a lot one of many cogs within the Dan Schneider Machine,” the swimsuit states: “Schneider was not complicit in Peck’s crimes, was unaware of Peck’s crimes till that data was made a matter of public report, and Schneider didn’t commit any such crimes himself.”
In arguing that Quiet on Set harmed Schneider’s fame and created a misunderstanding of him amongst viewers, the lawsuit listed quite a few YouTube feedback and social media posts: These embrace: “DAN SCHNEIDER – HARVEY WEINSTEIN – JEFFREY EPSTEIN – BILL COSBY – The Mount Rushmore of Sexual Abuse. JOSH PECK can function Tour Information”; “He’s gross what a sick predator”; “Dan ‘Get within the van’ Schneider”; and “I hope that Dan Schneider goes down identical to R-Kelly and Harvey after their docuseries.”
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