Schneider on the set of Victorious in 2009 Photo : Lawrence K. Ho ( Getty Images )

At first, it seems like a pretty mundane story, of interest only to those specialized few who follow the business of children’s television: Yesterday Nickelodeon announced that it was parting ways with Dan Schneider, one of its most prominent creators who had been working with the network for 25 years. “Since several [Schneider’s production company] Schneider’s Bakery projects are wrapping up, both sides agreed that this is a natural time for Nickelodeon and Schneider’s Bakery to pursue other opportunities and projects,” the network said in an official statement.




But, as Deadline notes in its original report on Schneider’s ouster from the network, there may be another element to this story that, thus far, remains in the realm of rumor. “Among other things, I hear there had been multiple complaints of abusive behavior against Schneider filed by members of his staff,” reporter Nellie Andreeva says in her Deadline story. It’s not clear if the alleged complaints are linked to, as Andreeva puts it, Schneider’s “well-documented” tendency to lose his temper on set, or to what she calls “suspicion” surrounding “treatment of some of the younger stars on his shows.”

No allegations against Schneider have ever been made public, but the “suspicion” Andreeva refers to is currently being fueled by social media posts that resurfaced in the wake of Nickelodeon’s announcement yesterday. Schneider has posted pictures of his young stars’ feet on social media many times, and has used show accounts to ask young fans to send in pictures of their feet:



Schneider joined Nickelodeon in 1993 as a writer on its kid-centric sketch show All That. He went on to create a number of hit series for the network, including The Amanda Show, iCarly, Drake & Josh, Victorious, Kenan & Kel, Sam & Cat, and Henry Danger, which is the No. 1 show on Nickelodeon at the moment. He’s been credited with discovering the likes of Ariana Grande, Amanda Bynes, Jamie Lynn Spears, and Victoria Justice, according to TV Guide.


Deadline reports that while another of Schneider’s current Nickelodeon series, Game Shakers, has been canceled, the network will most likely continue Henry Danger, on which he is an executive producer. The fate of a third series, The Adventures Of Kid Danger, remains unknown.

