A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has ruled that former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider can proceed with his defamation lawsuit over claims made in Investigation Discovery’s Quiet On Set limited series.
Schneider filed the lawsuit against Warner Bros Discovery, Maxine Productions, Sony Pictures and Quiet on Set producers Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz of defamation after the series premiered in March 2024.
In the Nov. 22 ruling, Judge Ashfaq G. Chowdhury denied a bid by WBD and Maxine Productions to have the lawsuit thrown out. “This is manifestly not a case brought by Schneider on frivolous grounds, simply to harass defendants,” the court ruling read. “He’s suing defendants about a documentary they made about him, that focuses on his activities, and, which a reasonable viewer might conclude makes damning implications about his conduct.”
Chowdhury agreed with Schneider and his lawyers “that 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.”
In the lawsuit, Schneider called the series a “hit job” that destroyed his “legacy and reputation.” The limited series that was a ratings boon for ID revealed how two child sexual abusers did work on his shows — dialogue coach Brian Peck and former production assistant Jason Handy — but Schneider claims in the suit that he had “no knowledge of their abuse, was not complicit in their abuse.”
Schneider released the statement below after filing the lawsuit in March that seeks unspecified damages:
“Recently the docuseries Quiet on Set highlighted mistakes I made and poor judgment I exhibited during my time at Nickelodeon, most of which happened decades ago during my early career as a producer, working on shows for Tollin/Robbins Productions. There is no doubt that I was sometimes a bad leader. I am sincerely apologetic and regretful for that behavior, and I will continue to take accountability for it.”
