♪ Nihoni - Chapter 13 ♪
>>INTERVIEWER: Nobody talks about pedophilia.
>>COREY: It's the big secret.
>>And it's widespread?
>>Oh, yeah.
I was surrounded by them... when I was 14 years old.
Surrounded.
Literally.
Didn't even know it.
It wasn't until I was old enough to realize what they were,
And what they wanted, and what they were about,
and the types of people that were surrounding me, 'til I went,
"Oh, my god!" They were everywhere, like vultures.
>>JORGE: If you grew up watching Nickelodeon,
then you may have heard of Dan Schneider.
He was responsible for many of its hit shows during the '90s and 2000s;
such as "The Amanda Show," "iCarly," and, my personal favorite, "Drake and Josh."
In recent years,
Dan has been brought into controversy due to rumors about abusive,
and possibly sexual behavior between him and his young, female co-stars.
None of these rumors were grounded with hard evidence,
and most people dismissed it...
...until March 26, 2018,
when Nickelodeon announced that they would be parting ways with Dan Schneider.
The news surprised many people.
"Why would Nickelodeon fire one of its biggest producers...
...seemingly out of nowhere?"
[film reel click] "Were they aware of all the rumors..
.and decided to finally do something about it?"
[film reel click] What is "the Dan Schneider conspiracy?"
[camera flash]
♪ ♪
>>CARLY: Okay, I'm Carly!
>>SAM: I'm Sam!
>>And we like to draw families on our toes!
>>Observe!
♪ ♪
[laughter]
[white noise]
[guitar riff, SAM laughing]
>>Okay, and that completes our five-part series on "Toes with Fro--!" [static]
>>JADE: And now, I'm gonna turn off the camera...
...using only the remote and the power of my toes!
[electronic beep]
♪ Nihoni - Subconscious ♪
>>JORGE: One of the most prominent rumors regarding Dan Schneider...
...is that he has a thing for... feet,
and uses his shows and their following to satisfy this fetish.
You may be thinking, "Well,
maybe he just finds feet and toes to be funny."
And to be honest, some of the scenes by themselves are...
...rather harmless and something that I could imagine on other shows.
However, it's undeniable that there are a large number of
feet-related puns and barefoot scenes in his shows.
Too many to list here.
Outside of television,
There are some weird examples, however.
In "Victorious,"
Tori hosts an online show called,
"Tori Takes Requests,"
where viewers can ask her to do all sorts of random things.
In the very first episode, Tori gets a request to have ketchup poured all over her feet...
and then she does a little... "dance" at the end.
In another online show called "Cat's Random Thoughts,"
there's a moment in the first episode where she sticks her big toe in her mouth.
I didn't really watch "Victorious" growing up,
so I don't know if these played on television.
But I do know that they were extras on "TheSlap.com,"
a fictional, in-universe website.
Now, here is where things get even more unusual.
On September 13, 2013, The "Sam and Cat" Twitter page
asked its followers to take a picture of their feet,
with the hashtag, "SAMandCATSaturday."
And... a number of people did.
This is just one of many now-infamous,
feet-related tweets from Dan Schneider and his shows.
But this is the most well-known.
You can find several if you look around long enough.
During the same year, there was a post on Reddit
about how Dan Schneider is the most successful writer / T.V. executive...
...in children's television over the last 30 years.
A user commented,
The user further elaborated.
The commenter later deleted his or her account.
It's unknown who this person is, how old he or she was...
...or if this person was even telling the truth.
A small YouTube channel known as "Revenge of the Cis"...
...have done a number of videos about Dan Schneider.
And during one of their podcasts, they received a call from an anonymous source...
...stating that she went to an audition for one of Dan Schneider's shows.
The call was quite lengthy, so for time's sake
I'll be playing a portion of what she had to say.
The full podcast will be available below.
[high-pitched, indistinct chatter]
>>MERSH: Right. [high-pitched, indistinct chatter]
>>JORGE: Because this person's mother decided to take her out of the audition...
...she's been blacklisted from the business.
>>JENNETTE: Hey, Dan Schneider!
I know you're watching my Vine! Do you like my Vine?
Vine! Vine! Vine! Look what you've done to me!
♪ A P O L L O - Reign ♪
>>JORGE: There are a number of photos circulating the internet... of Dan Schneider being a bit too...
..."touchy" with his young, child actors;
some of which are a bit more... uncomfortable to look at than others.
There are stories of him, inviting...
young actresses into his office,
and hosting pool parties during auditions.
[high-pitched, indistinct chatter]
In an article by Kira Davis from RedState, she writes...
In 2004, actor and producer Brian Peck...
...was convicted of several lewd acts towards a minor,
and was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
Court documents reveal that several of these acts involved...
...just to name a few.
The victim has remained anonymous to protect his or her career,
But according to reports,
the child actor was involved in "The Amanda Show."
After serving his sentence, Peck was released from prison.
...and... went straight back to working on kids' shows,
such as "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody."
This is because although he is prohibited from direct contact with children...
That technically doesn't mean he's not allowed to work on shows that involve children.
>>MADDIE: I wonder where I'd wear this!
>>THE MIRROR: Wear it to a fruit stand!
You look like a lime! [chuckles]
>>JORGE: So, what does this have to do with Dan Schneider?
Well, in a 2002 article titled,
it is revealed that Dan Schneider and Brian Peck...
...would host "comedy boot camps" for Nickelodeon child stars, where they were allegedly
separated from their parents.
Really think about that for a bit.
The guy that held "boot camps" for children
was convicted and sentenced two years later
for commiting sexual acts with children...
...and then went straight back to working on children's shows.
When asked if he had anything to say to the child he abused, Peck responded with,
...and this is the guy Dan Schneider worked with...
...for years...
According to "Deadline.com," Dan Schneider was known for having temper issues.
During a meeting with Nickelodeon executives,
Dan was told that his show "Game Shakers" would not be renewed for a fourth season...
...leaving it on a cliffhanger ending.
It was also reported Nickelodeon's newest show, "Cousins for Life,"
would move into the same studio
that all of Schneider's shows were produced for years,
and that Dan wasn't so happy about having to share space now.
Perhaps the most absurd allegation towards Dan Schneider,
is that he is the true father of Jamie Lynn Spears' daughter.
Yeah; this is a little silly,
but it does lead into something interesting,
so I'm going to bring it up for educational purposes; just so you guys know.
Jamie Lynn Spears, the star of "Zoey 101,"
infamously got pregnant at 16 years old,
which resulted in the cancellation of the show.
Crazy Days and Nights is an on-line, gossiping website,
ran by an anonymous blogger known as "N.T.",
a self-proclaimed, dialed-in entertainment lawyer.
Supposedly, N.T. was able to predict certain scandals involving big-name celebrities,
such as Weinstein and Kevin Spacey on his website...
years before mainstream media caught on.
Obviously, there is no way to verify this is accurate,
despite "The Daily Beast" believing so.
♪ MucioJad - Distortion ♪
Regardless, there was an... "interesting" post made by N.T.
in October of 2007, saying,
In December of 2007, just two months later,
Jamie Lynn Spears announces her pregnancy.
♪ ♪
Speaking of "Crazy Days and Nights,"
visitors to the website are able to create accounts
and comment on N.T.'s posts,
often attempting to guess which celebrity will be exposed next.
One of these commenters, known as "Himmmm,"
is believed to be... Robert Downey Jr.
Yeah; the golden Avenger himself.
Where the hell did this come from?
Well, most of the people came to this conclusion because of what "Himmmm"...
...revealed about himself through his posts,
such as having a troubled youth,
and nearly destroying his Hollywood career.
Himmmm also listed celebrities he was friends with...
...including...
...Robert Downey Jr.'s wife.
It's worth noting that Himmmm's
complete list of celebrities
included some that people...
...were not able to find a connection to Robert Downey Jr.,
such as Neil Patrick Harris and John Hamm.
Of course, there is no way to know for certain who Himmm is.
But what we do know is that some time ago...
he had this to say about Dan Schneider.
♪ ♪
Finally, on March 26, 2018,
Nickelodeon parted ways with Dan Schneider.
Nickelodeon's official statement was,
Dan was given a payout of $7,000,000 upon his departure,
he and his wife sold their home,
and currently reside in Hidden Hills, California.
It's unknown if Dan Schneider is working on any new projects.
So... is Dan guilty?
Did he really abuse his young, child actors?
Well, no one knows for certain.
As you may have noticed, there is no concrete evidence against Dan Schneider.
No celebrity has spoken out,
and the ones who did kept their identities private,
or anonymous.
So, for all we know, they could be lying.
The closest comes to us from Noah Munck,
the actor who played Gibby on iCarly
from the official podcast.
But even he was hesitant on defending Dan.
[high-pitched, indistinct chatter]
♪ Johannes Bornlöf - A Mellow Mood ♪
These rumors and accusations have existed for a while, but...
nobody really said or did anything
until Nickelodeon separated themselves from Dan.
It was only then that people started growing concern.
Why would Nickelodeon fire one of their biggest producers, just...
...out of nowhere? Were they aware of something?
Many people point to this event as evidence that Dan must be guilty,
But... I beg to differ.
I think that it's worth mentioning that
Dan's shows have been seriously declining in ratings.
iCarly's pilot episode got 4.1 million views.
Their most-viewed episode, "iSaved Your Life,"
got 11.2 million views,
and their least-viewed episode, "iBattle Chip,"
got 2.4 million views.
Victorious's pilot episode got 5.7 million,
their most-viewed episode, "Beggin' On Your Knees,"
got 6.1 million,
and their least-viewed episode, "The Hambone King,"
got 2.39 million, so... not that bad.
Skipping over "Sam and Cat" since that show never finished,
Henry Danger's pilot episode got 1.94 million views.
Their most-viewed episode, "Hour of Power,"
got 3.16 million,
and their least-viewed episode, "Saturday Night Lies,"
got 1.05 million.
Game Shakers' pilot episode got 1.98 million views,
their most-viewed episode was the pilot episode,
and their least-viewed episode, "Escape from Utah,"
got 0.52 million views.
It seemed as if the "Schneider Style" just...
...wasn't working anymore.
Is it not more reasonable that Nickelodeon saw this trend and fired him because of it?
I do not want to dismiss any of the people that
have investigated and spoken out against him,
I mean, with this many rumors and allegations surrounding Dan,
it's... just kinda hard to ignore it...
and it's not like this hasn't happened before...
In 2004, a man known as Jason Handy
used his job at Nickelodeon to lure young, child actors.
He was arrested,
and sentenced to six years in prison for molestation,
and possession of child pornography.
And after serving his time,
he was released and went straight back to working at Nickelodeon.
Hollywood is one of the most... unsupervised,
unrestricted industries in the world,
The promise of fame and fortune can be so alluring
to young and upcoming actresses and actors,
that they and their families are just...
willing to do anything.
Once you become a public figure,
everything you say and do will be held against you,
which is why if some actor or actress in the industry
was abused as a child,
they'd probably rather say nothing and not risk their career.
You can't change the past, so...
might as well keep making money.
I think the most we can definititively say about Dan is that...
...at the very least...
he finds feet entertaining, and that's not a crime.
But who knows?
Maybe someday, an actor or actress will speak out against Dan;
maybe concrete evidence will be found;
and maybe something will be done.
I supposed we'll never know... [click]
♪ Gato (aka NetGato) - Kry ♪
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