Docu-series unmasks the child sexual abuse that took place at Nickelodeon in the 1990s

One of those stars was Bryan Heame, who appeared on the sketch series “All That” along with Amanda Bynes, Kenan Thompson, and others. Other child stars who appeared on the network included Ariana Grande and Drake Bell. 

Heame was let go, thanks in no small part to his outspoken mother, Tracey Brown, who observed what she called strange and inappropriate behavior on the set of the program, then run by Dan Schneider, who was somewhat of a “king” of children’s television programming. 

“It was a house of horrors,” Bown said as part of the docu-series that is playing on Investigation Discovery. 

Schneider is unmasked in the program, having served as writer-producer of a number of Nickelodeon shows, including “The Amanda Show, “Zoey 101,” Drake & Josh, “Sam and Cat,” and iCarly,” shows that starred other teens such as Jamie Lynn Spears, Jennette McCurdy, Miranda Cosgrove, and Victoria Justice. 

In “Quiet on the Set,” it is revealed that at least three convicted sex offenders–production assistant Jason Handy, animator Enez Channel, and dialogue coach/actor Brian Peck– all served on Schneider’s staff and had full access to the child actors. It should be noted that all three were convicted after they had been hired for the programs. 

It wasn’t just the child actors who were abused. For example, one female writer told of being asked to lean over a desk and pretend she was being sodomized, cited as one of many examples of the toxic workplace overseen by Schneider. 

The docu-series highlights a number of cases of sexually charged programming, including Peck (a sex offender you may recall) playing a character called “Pickle Boy” on “All That,” a character that interacted with the young people on the show and guest stars such as Ray Romano. He would carry a tray, Brown recalled, of “pickles that looked like penises.” 

Also highlighted were the frequent shots of young girls’ feet, along with a number of scenes involving actresses who had liquid and slime squirted in their faces and onto their bodies, replicating porn movie scenes. Some viewers even believed Schneider had a foot fetish due to the focus on girls’ feet. 

In one scene, a character named “Captain Nose” let out a giant squeeze, squirting goo on the face of one young female actress. 

That sketch is shown in the first episode of the series, which caught the attention of culture writer Schaachi Koul. 

‘The joke in that sketch is effectively a cumshot joke. It’s a cumshot joke for children,” Koul said. 

The docuseries interviewed several former Nickelodeon child stars, including Hearne, Raquel Lee Bolleau from “The Amanda Show,” Katrina Johnson, Giovonnie Samuels, Kyle Sullivan from “All That,” and Alexis Nicholas from “Zoey 101.” 

In addition to the former child stars, two writers and a director confirmed bullying behavior on the show sets, much of it carried out by Schneider. 

While Bynes, Spears, and McCurdy are mentioned and seen in clips, they did not participate in the series. 

In 2017 and 2018, Viacom-CBS, which owns Nickelodeon, conducted two investigations, and while they were unable to confirm any type of sexual misconduct had occurred, they did confirm that Schneider was verbally abusive on set. 

In 2022, McCurdy published a memoir, “I’m Glad My Mom Died,” in which she refers to someone called “The Creator,” calling the person scary and temperamental and alleging he urged her to drink alcohol as a teen starring in iCarly. “The Creator” was long believed to refer to Schneider. 

Schneider has denied any wrongdoing, and in a statement to the docuseries’ producers, Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz: 

“Everything that happened on the shows I ran was scrutinized by dozens of involved adults,” Schneider said in a statement. “A standards and practices group read and ultimately approved every script, and programming executives reviewed and approved all episodes.” 

One of the most disturbing revelations in the program centers around actor Jake Bell, who starred in “Drake & Josh,” who alleges that Peck sexually assaulted him as a teen. 

“I was just trapped. I had no way out,” Bell says in the series, the first time he has spoken out about the abuse, which he said later became “extensive” and “pretty brutal.” 

“Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault, and then I’ll answer your question,” Bell said. “I don’t know how else to put it.” 

Bell also explained how Peck drove a wedge between him and his father, who had been serving “as his manager and constant companion since [Bell] was 5,” the Post reported and then convinced Bell to fire his own father so Peck could take over some of those duties.

Peck was loved and trusted by the kids who starred on Nickelodeon, as well as their parents. So, too, was a production assistant named Jason Handy, who worked on “The Amanda Show” and “All That.” Handy likes to send inappropriate pictures to one nine-year-old actress while also keeping plastic baggies containing young girls’ underwear.

“Everyone trusted Brian,” said Kyle Sullivan, who starred on the same programs.

One day, while he was at Peck’s home, Bell became a victim of him as well.

“I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep. I woke up to him–I opened my eyes, I woke up, and he was sexually assaulting me,” Bell said. “I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react and I have no idea how to get out of this situation,” Bell said. Bell was only 15 at the time of the assault. 

Bell said Peck was “so apologetic” and promised it wouldn’t happen again. 

Peck also had an issue with the friends he chose. According to court documents, he was pen pals with serial killer John Wayne Gacy and kept some of Gacy’s letters in his nightstand. He penetrated Bell with a foreign object, among other sexual assaults. 

In 2003, Peck was arrested on 11 charges, which included sodomy, a lewd act against a child, oral copulation of a person under 16, and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance. 

Peck served 16 months in state prison and was forced to register as a sex offender, but somehow managed to land a job at the Disney Channel on the children’s program “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” in 2006. 

Do you think there aren’t problems with pedophilia in the television and film industry? One of Peck’s longtime friends is film director Bryan Singer, who was once accused of assaulting four minors. Peck is also friends with actor Charlie Sheen, who hired peck to work on his sitcom “Anger Management” between 2012 to 2014. 

Heame was one of the lucky ones and hasn’t suffered the same issues as Bell and Bynes, who are both now 37. 

Bynes, for example, quit acting in 2010 and said she was retiring from acting and then began a slide down the slippery slope. She started to engage in increasingly erratic behavior and was arrested for DUI while also claiming her father had abused her. She was placed in a conservatorship that ended in 2020. 

One year ago, she was placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold after an incident where she flagged down a bystander for help and called 911 following a psychotic episode in Los Angeles. 

Bell has also experienced lasting effects from the trauma he experienced as a child, having also been arrested for DUI. In 2021, he pleaded guilty to charges including child endangerment and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles based on allegations from a young fan who met him at a 2017 concert. 

He was sentenced to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service. 

Bell said the trauma he endured as a teenager caused him to become “self-destructive.” 

The producers of “Quiet on Set” contacted Nickelodeon about the allegations, with the network saying it “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.” 

However, when the extent of Bell’s claims came forth, Nickelodeon followed up on the original statement, saying:

“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 comment and support the strength required to come forward.” 

In a strange twist, a spokesperson for Schneider denied he had a connection with either “The Amanda Show” or “All That,” saying he didn’t produce them or hire either Peck or Handy. 

However, Schneider is prominently listed in numerous places as the creator of “The Amanda Show.” He was widely recognized as having discovered Bynes as a young child at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles and directed her to stardom. 

Hearne said in the docuseries, “Children are just a dollar sign when they show [up] on sets.” Meanwhile, Giovannie Samuels, who co-starred with Bell on “All That,” cautions parents to be overprotective of their child stars on sets. 

She told the New York Post, "Parents be present…don’t get caught up in the glitter [of Hollywood]."