Dan Schneider has faced a wave of criticism following a new documentary, with disturbing footage now resurfacing of him in a hot tub with Amanda Bynes when she was a child.
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV has featured some explosive allegations about Nickelodeon during the years Schneider worked at the network, with claims the child actors were highly sexualised while others faced shocking racism. Schneider has denied claims made against him in the documentary.
The documentary featured a clip that showed Schneider in a hot tub with Bynes when she was 16 years old. The video is taken from The Amanda Show and was filmed in 2002. It shows Schneider, who is 20 years Bynes' senior, sitting next to the actress while she wore a bikini at 16 years old.
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Dan Schneider was filmed in a hot tub with Amanda Bynes (Nickelodeon)The sketch was written by Schneider and has now been branded "uncomfortable" by viewers. In the video, Bynes said: "Hi, welcome to my jacuzzi. Today my special guest is executive producer of The Amanda Show, Dan Schneider."
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Schneider replied with a simple "hi" before explaining how he was also the head writer at the channel. Bynes added: "You actually wrote the words that we are saying to each other right now."
In Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, many agreed that Bynes quickly became Schneider's "favourite" Nickelodeon cast member when she arrived at the network. Leon Frierson, who worked on All That as a teen explained in the show: "There would be times where Amanda would just be missing and a lot of times we would just hear that she would be with Dan - pitching ideas and writing.
"We were seeing them grow closer to each other on set." Kate Taylor, from Business Insider, told the documentary: "Dan Schneider's decision to have Amanda be the star of the show is forward thinking in a lot of ways. A lot of adult female comedians do not get their own shows without jumping through a million hoops."
She was just 16 years old at the time (Nickelodeon)Culture writer Scaachi Koul added: "Dan Schneider was very responsible for Amanda Bynes' career at the point and they were very tied to each other. I think she trusted him."
Karyn Finley Thompson, who worked as an editor on The Amanda Show, said Bynes and Schneider were very close. She explained: "There were many times that I saw Amanda sitting behind him, hugging him or giving him like a neck massage or whatever. Dan and Amanda had a close relationship and I didn't think anything different than that. The hot tub scene though I always thought was a little odd."
A statement from Schneider issued to the documentary stated: "Everything that happened on the shows I ran was carefully scrutinised by dozens of involved adults. All stories, dialogue, costumes and makeup were fully approved by network executives on two coasts.
Schneider has responded to the documentary (Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)"A standard and practices group read and ultimately approved every script, and programming executives reviewed and approved all episodes. "In addition, every day on every set, there were always parents and caregivers and their friends watching us rehearse and film."
A representative for Schneider has since released another statement. Speaking to Variety, they said: "If there was an actual problem with the scenes that some people, now years later are ‘sexualizing,’ they would be taken down, but they are not, they are aired constantly all over the world today still, enjoyed by both kids and parents."
The statement continued: "Remember, all stories, dialogue, costumes, and makeup were fully approved by network executives on two coasts. A standards and practices group read and ultimately approved every script, and programming executives reviewed and approved all episodes.
"In addition, every day on every set, there were always parents and caregivers and their friends watching filming and rehearsals. Had there been any scenes or outfits that were inappropriate in any way, they would have been flagged and blocked by this multi-layered scrutiny. Unfortunately, some adults project their adult minds onto kids’ shows, drawing false conclusions about them."
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