All That’s Lori Beth Denberg Alleges Dan Schneider Showed Her Porn, Initiated Phone Sex; Schneider Calls Claims ‘Exaggerated’ and ‘False’
Former Nickelodeon actress Lori Beth Denberg says All That writer Dan Schneider showed her pornography and tried to start phone sex with her when she starred on the kids’ comedy series. This comes two weeks after Schneider filed a lawsuit against the producers of ID‘s Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries, which posited that Schneider’s myriad TV shows sexualized young child stars like Ariana Grande and Jamie Lynn Spears.
In an interview with Business Insider, Denberg claims Schneider repeatedly put her in uncomfortable situations where he had a clear power advantage during her four seasons on All That. She tells the trade that in addition to lashing out at her on set, he played porn for her on multiple occasions and once initiated phone sex.
Responding to the allegations, Schneider tells TVLine in a statement: “Lori Beth’s accusations of me are wildly exaggerated and, in most cases, false.”
Schneider goes on to note that Kate Taylor, who wrote the Business Insider piece, is also an EP on Quiet on the Set. “The fact that [she] would pursue allegations regarding what may have happened between adults nearly 30 years ago — only a week after I filed a defamation lawsuit accusing Quiet on Set of being intentionally false and misleading — seems more than coincidental,” he says, before adding, “As I have previously stated, there were times, particularly in the early years of my career, that I made mistakes and exhibited poor judgment as a leader. If I did that with respect to Lori Beth, I sincerely apologize to her. But I cannot apologize for things I did not do.”
Quiet on the Set aired in March and featured cast and crew members who worked with Schneider at Nickelodeon throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. In addition to claims of inappropriate workplace behavior, the special also featured crew members alleging that they were continuously asked to massage Schneider on set. “Dan deeply regrets asking anyone for neck massages,” Schneider’s team said in response at the time. “Though they happened in public settings, he knows this was highly inappropriate and would never happen again.”
Schneider was dropped from Nickelodeon in 2018. At the time, it was reported that “multiple complaints of abusive behavior” had been filed against him by members of his staff. Then, in 2021, it was reported that ViacomCBS had conducted an internal investigation of Schneider ahead of his departure from Nickelodeon; evidence of verbal abuse was found in that investigation, though evidence of sexual misconduct was not.
Time for him to do some jail time.
Yeah, it just makes you wonder what Amanda Bynes had endured during her time with Dan and the after-effects of how she is today, that Discovery documentary implied that Amanda and Dan had a questionable relationship of working too close together.
Bynes has apparently stated she had no bad experiences with anyone on Nick.
No idea if what she states is the truth of course, but she did make a statement.
Weird how Schneider himself is the only person surprised by allegations against him…..
Where was she during Quiet on Set?
Are the exaggerated (which would make them real) or false? Make up your mind.
His deliberate choice of certain words like ‘wildly exaggerated” set off a bunch of red flags for me. He never outright denies it but instead he tries to dismiss the accusations against him as bad decisions he made at the time but would not make now. I was also bothered by the following phrase where he accuses the BI writer of having a bias, “The fact that [she] would pursue allegations regarding what may have happened between ADULTS nearly 30 years ago…” WTF is he talking about?! She was only 18 when the show began. He was the adult and more importantly, he was the one in a position of authority.
Exactly. 18 may be legal, but it’s definitely not ethical when there’s a big age and power imbalance.