Nickelodeon exposé Quiet On Set stirs responses from fans, former employees, and Drake Bell

Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV aired its first episodes on Investigation Discovery on Sunday, prompting its audience to reexamine the Dan Schneider era of Nickelodeon. The allegations in the docuseries range from Schneider creating a toxic work environment for children and adults alike (particularly for women) to one of the adult actors from All That sexually abusing the young star Drake Bell. The four-part docuseries continues on Monday night (and can be streamed afterwards on Max), but the first two episodes are prompting responses from the doc’s subjects and from others who were connected to Nickelodeon at the time.

Amy Berg, a co-executive producer and former writer on Kenan & Kel and All That, wrote that she “wasn’t aware of any physically inappropriate behavior” on Schneider’s part, but asserted that “he was a fucking asshole” and a “psychological tormenter.” In a statement posted to Twitter/X, she wrote that while serving as his assistant for a year, “He introduced me to panic attacks and the stress of working for him caused me to develop a significant heart arrhythmia. I eventually had surgery to [mostly] correct the issue, but by that point I’d lost all of my 20s. He stole those years from me.” Berg shared that she had not and would not be watching the docuseries (“I’ve no interest in reliving anything, nor do I want to be in a situation where I’d feel inclined to defend Dan in any way”), but wrote that “to this day I carry with me an anxiety disorder that fiercely rears its head when faced with other manipulators.”

Elsewhere, former Zoey 101 star Alexa Nikolas, who has long been outspoken about Schneider and Nick’s treatment of child stars, condemned Rider Strong and Will Friedle, two of the actors who were exposed as writing statements of support for Brian Peck, the man who was convicted for sexually abusing Drake Bell. Strong and Friedle spoke about their relationship with Peck on their show Pod Meets World, and said that while Peck had admitted to having inappropriate contact with a minor, he lied and downplayed the situation in order to secure their support. Nikolas’ post highlighted the fact that neither Strong nor Friedle have apologized to Bell for supporting Peck.

Some fans who listened to the episode defended them saying they were also minors who were manipulated by Peck. But Bell himself responded to such a comment (per Page Six), writing, “Will was 27 years old and Brian told him what he did. Many people turned away and said no I won’t write a letter but they did. Will was not manipulated. Brian admitted it to him and he wrote the letter anyway. Then he worked with me on many episodes of [Ultimate Spider-Man animated series] years later and never said a word to me about it. This is because they were told [their] letters are going to be made public. Everyone thought the letters would be sealed forever and no one would ever see them. This is their publicist telling them how to get ahead of the story.” Referencing Strong, Bell added, “RIDER WAS 24 years old when he wrote the letter and was told by Brian what he did. He wrote the letter anyway.”

Of those who were revealed as writing statements of support for Peck—which also includes James Marsden, Alan Thicke, Taran Killam, and more—only Joanna Kerns gave a statement to the documentarians saying she was misinformed about the case: “Knowing what I know now, I never would have written” the letter, she stated. Most of the other figures involved in writing letters of support for Peck have yet to address their letters. Quiet On Set co-director Emma Schwartz told Us Weekly, “We reached out to everyone who wrote a letter of support [for Brian Peck] that we mentioned in the film — including Will and Rider. We didn’t hear back from them. So it was interesting to hear that they put out a podcast after our trailer was announced.” Co-director Mary Robertson added that there were still questions about the extent to which Peck’s supporters knew about the charges against him: “I think one wonders about the conditions under which they were written, if any pressure was exerted, who asked whom to write which letters and what rationale was offered. So we hope that we learn more in the coming weeks and months.”

Schneider—whom Bell said supported him in the wake of Peck’s abuse—denied many of the claims in Quiet On Set, and asserted that any material being deemed “inappropriate” was witnessed and reviewed by many adults and executives before airing. In a statement to The A.V. Club about the docuseries at large, Nickelodeon said, “Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct. Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.” Of Bell’s case specifically, the network added, “Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.”