He Silence on the set: The dark side of children's television The docuseries directors “are committed to continuing the investigation” into the toxic culture of children's television shows on Nickelodeon in the '90s and '00s, they tell Yahoo Entertainment in a new interview. A new fifth episode, called “Breaking the Silence,” which aired Sunday on Investigation Discovery (ID), shared more of their revelations.
After approximately 20 million people tuned in to the first four episodes, which included accusations of sexual abuse, racism and sexism behind the scenes of Dan Schneider's shows on Nickelodeon, “we saw a really passionate voluminous response, questions started to arise and The conversation ignited. ” says co-director Mary Robertson. “We quickly realized we could add value and engage with some of the questions that arose after the documentary.”
For the fifth episode, Peabody Award-winning journalist Soledad O'Brien conducted new interviews with Drake Bell, who had revealed that he had been sexually assaulted as a child by Amanda's show script coach Brian Peck, as well as Everything that's giovonnie samuels and Bryan Hearnwho experienced racism. Shane Lyonswhich was also in Everything thatrevealed for the first time that Brian, 27 years his senior, made “advances” towards him when he was 14 years old.
“We know there has been a lot of conversation since the series came out. [on March 17 and 18] And that has also had an impact on some of the participants,” says Emma Schwartz. “This is an opportunity for people to hear more from some of those people about how this shaped their lives.”
Future episodes could follow. “We are passionate about the topic. “We are committed to continuing the investigation,” says Robertson. “We are here to provide a home for those who want to share their stories that are relevant and relatable when they are ready to share them.”
As for what you thought of Schneider's video addressing the doctor's accusations, in which he apologizes for some “embarrassing” past behavior but says Nickelodeon's investigation into him uncovered no wrongdoing, Robertson says: “We offered They give the opportunity to sit down for an interview. We put his response in our film. The video that Dan offered publicly stimulated strong feelings in some of the contributors and they share some of these feelings” in the latest episode.
Many former Nickelodeon stars have reacted to the doc. However, others, such as Victorious and Sam and cat star Ariana Grande, who appeared in sexually suggestive scenes — They have been radio silent. People have called for Grande to address the allegations, but the documents' creators say no one should be forced to speak out.
“Hopefully people can be aware that everyone is in a different space and be more respectful of where they are and whether or not they have stories to share,” Schwartz says.
Robertson adds: “We never want to pressure anyone to speak when they are not ready. When people are ready to share their stories, we would love to help create a comfortable and respectful environment in which they can share those stories.”
On the day of our interview, the host of the Nickelodeon show Double challenge Marc Summers, who appears in the first episode, claimed on a radio show that Schwartz and Robertson misled him about the project. He said he was told it was about Nickelodeon, but not about Schneider, whom he has never met, or allegations of abuse and toxicity. The directors disagree and say his speech was clear.
“I haven't seen the interview,” Schwartz says. “All I would say is, look, I feel like we're as transparent as possible with people and I've definitely always said that the project was focused on the Dan Schneider shows and the arc of that experience.”
'Breaking the silence'
In the fifth episode, Bell said the reason he first revealed his abuse allegations was because the document makers made him feel “comfortable.”
“It was a very difficult decision to make because they had contacted me before and… I said no,” Bell revealed. “But when the doctor people came to me and I was talking to Emma, she made me feel very comfortable, she took her time and was very sensitive. “I could feel like I could open up to her and… I felt like maybe this was the time to tell my story.”
Bell said he went to rehab after meeting with the Silence on set producers, undergoing trauma therapy and group therapy. He said hearing other people share experiences of sexual abuse helped him process his own.
Bell spoke more about Brian and those who wrote letters supporting him after Brian failed to contest Bell's sexual abuse in 2004. He said none of them had contacted him personally to apologize. He talked about social media being hard for him. Drake and Josh her co-star Josh Peck (no relation to Brian), saying they connected behind the scenes and maintain a “close connection” and “unique bond.” He also talked about people “coming for” her mother for allowing Brian to be Bell's manager. He said Brian “was very calculated” and to blame.
He maintained that his working relationship with Schneider was positive, saying, “Dan was really the only one in the network who even went out of his way to help me and make sure I was okay” after the abuse allegations surfaced. However, he didn't want to discount anyone else's experience with Schneider, who has been accused of being verbally abusive, sexist and inappropriate with employees.
Samuels appeared with Hearne and talked again about being the only black male and female cast members on the show at the time, and they agreed that they felt they were “symbolic” roles. Schnieder's interview was also laughed at, with Hearne calling it an act.
“I just feel: What is an apology without accountability?” Hearne said.
Samuels said Schneider called her a week before the documentary aired and asked her to give him a quote on his behalf. She refused and told him that she was “terrified” of him when she was his boss.
Hearne also praised the documentaries' creators for being “real people.” He said, “We didn't know who they were” going into the project, so “we definitely had our guard up.” But they realized that “they care about people, they care about history and they want the truth to come out.”
Lyons was not in the previous episodes, but agreed to appear after Bell told her “brave” and “heartbreaking” story. Lyon appeared in Everything that from 2002 to 2004 and said that while he was not sexually abused or assaulted, Brian made “some advances” toward him. He remembered that he was 14 years old and that Brian was talking about male genitalia.
He called for better protections for child actors, including background checks on everyone, because Brian went on to work at Disney Channel after his child abuse conviction.
The fifth episode of Silence on the set: The dark side of children's television now streaming on Max.
