Dan Schneider's team releases statement following Jennette McCurdy book claims

31 August 2022, 16:40

Jennette McCurdy unpacks one of the first hard copies of her memoir

By Sam Prance

Jennette McCurdy alludes to being mistreated by iCarly creator Dan Schneider in her memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died.

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Dan Schneider's team have released a statement following Jennette McCurdy's claims about the iCarly creator in her book.

Earlier this year (Aug 9), Jennette McCurdy released her memoir I'm Glad My Mom Died. In the autobiography, she writes candidly about her negative experiences as a child actress. While she doesn't mention Dan Schneider by name, Jennette says that "The Creator" of iCarly shouted at her often and forced her to reshoot her first on-screen kiss seven times.

As well as creating iCarly, Dan Schneider created hit Nickelodeon shows such as Drake & Josh, Victorious and Sam & Cat and, now, Dan's behaviour has been put under further scrutiny. Victorious fans are calling out disturbing scenes that Dan wrote for Ariana Grande, and Daniella Monet and several other stars have spoken out about working with Dan.

In response to the growing concerns from fans of Dan's various Nickelodeon shows, Russell Hicks, former President of Content and Production at Nickelodeon, has now released a statement on behalf of Dan and his team to E! News.

Dan Schneider's team releases statement following Jennette McCurdy book claims. Picture: Simon & Schuster, Charley Gallay/WireImage

In the statement, Russell claims that Dan "cared about the kids on his shows, even when their own families did not. He was the shoulder they cried on when something happened to them. He understood what they were going through. Dan was like the great high school counsellor you could always turn to for help and guidance. And he was their biggest champion."

Russell goes on: "Nickelodeon's reputation as the best in kids' television required that nothing went on without the company knowing. There is a standards and practices group that reads every script and programming executives looking at every episode. Add to that every day on every set, were the parents and caregivers and their friends watching every single frame of footage and listening to every joke. They had a billion-dollar brand to protect."

Russell ends the statement by writing: "Every single thing that Dan ever did on any of his shows was carefully scrutinized and approved by executives at Nickelodeon."

everyone keeps bringing ariana grande for stan drama against jennette and idk why. let’s not forget, ariana is a victim herself from the creepiness of dan schneider. this is why she doesn’t talk about the role of cat valentine anymore. they sexualized and infantilized her. pic.twitter.com/72MrdW2j33
— khalia. | head de niro stan☀️ (@VERONASFILMS) August 11, 2022

In a separate comment to E! News, Russell avoided any of Jennette's direct claims and said: "I think Jenette's book is really a beautiful tribute to getting the help she needed to get through the trauma she experienced with balancing her family and high pressured work life. Hopefully, it'll help others get the help that they need."

In an interview with the New York Times in June 2021, Dan denied claims that he "sexualised" the child actors on his shows after several posts when viral on Twitter. He said the posts were "ridiculous" and he denied sexualising any of the young actors, claiming that "the comedy was totally innocent".

Dan parted ways with Nickelodeon in 2018 after an internal investigation by ViacomCBS found evidence of verbal abuse towards his colleagues.