Showrunner Dan Schneider’s defamation lawsuit against the documentary “Quiet on Set,” which explored sexual misbehavior at Nickelodeon, has been granted permission by a judge.
Schneider, who has produced several Nickelodeon programs over the past 20 years, referred to the documentary as a “hit job,” claiming it made false claims that he was a sexual abuser or that he knew two sexual abusers had been hired for his shows.
Judge Ashfaq G. Chowdhury said in a ruling on November 22 that Schneider’s allegations are serious and that a “reasonable viewer” could think that the documentary draws “damning implications about his conduct.”
The California anti-SLAPP Act, which prohibits lawsuits meant to suppress speech on issues of public concern, was invoked by Warner Bros. and Sony’s lawyers to get the lawsuit dismissed, but the judge rejected their move. According to their argument, Schneider was not actually accused of sexual abuse in the documentary.
“Defamation can be implied, that the trailer and documentary state or imply Schneider sexually abused children who worked on his show, and that Schneider was a child sexual abuser,” Chowdhury concluded, citing arguments made by Schneider’s attorneys.
In 2018, Nickelodeon severed its relationship with Schneider following an internal investigation concerning verbal abuse. There was no proof of any sexual misconduct between the showrunner and any child actors during the investigation.
Although Schneider has expressed regret for causing discomfort to others by requesting neck massages on set, he repeatedly denied many of the accusations.
According to Schneider’s claim, the series compared him to both individuals, suggesting that he is also a sexual abuser or somehow accountable for their actions. The lawsuit claimed that the program generated a “defamatory implication” even in the absence of any allegations of sexual abuse against the showrunner.
Attorneys for the show’s producers and distributors, Warner Bros. and Sony, contended that Schneider was distorting the documentary’s content and that no sexual abuse was ever alleged against him.
In response to the judge’s concern, Schneider’s attorneys submitted a declaration on his behalf, in which the showrunner confirmed that he had “never sexually assaulted or sexually abused a child.”
The judge decided that was enough for the case to move on to the next stage.
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