Dan Schneider 'didn't like having female writers' on his Nickelodeon shows and created a hostile work environment for women, ex-colleagues say
- Former Nickelodeon executive Dan Schneider asked Nickelodeon staffers for massages on set.
- One female writer filed a gender discrimination and hostile workplace claim in 2000, two people said.
Former Nickelodeon hitmaker Dan Schneider's treatment of female colleagues is under scrutiny following an Insider investigation.
A female writer on "The Amanda Show" named Jenny Kilgen accused Storybook Productions — the production company for the series — of gender discrimination and of creating a hostile work environment in a 2000 claim, two people with direct knowledge of the incident told Insider.
Schneider was not named as a party in the claim, which was made public for the first time in an Insider investigation earlier this week. However, as the creator of "The Amanda Show," Schneider was central to Kilgen's allegations, according to the two people. The two people said that during the mediation process, Kilgen — one of two female writers on the show at the time — said she was uncomfortable with Schneider's persistent requests for massages.
(Numerous Nickelodeon staffers said Schneider asked adult colleagues for massages throughout his time at the network, sometimes asking crew members to reach under his shirt to massage him. A person close to Schneider said Schneider "regrets ever asking anyone and agrees it was not appropriate, even though it only happened in public settings.")
As part of the mediation, "The Amanda Show"'s other female writer wrote in a letter viewed by Insider that Schneider asked her and Kilgen to massage his shoulders and preform embarrassing tasks for money. Schneider once pressured the writer into simulating "being sodomized" while she was telling a story about high school, to her embarrassment, according to the letter.
The claim was settle out of court for an undisclosed amount, the two people said. Kilgen left the television industry and declined to comment when contacted by Insider.
"The Amanda Show" was the first of many shows Schneider created for Nickelodeon. However, female colleagues' discomfort with Schneider predated the show's 1999 premiere.
Kayla Alpert told Insider that, on her first day working as a writer on "All That" in the mid-'90s, Schneider told her that women were not funny and dared her to name a single funny woman. "It speaks to something very dark and very wrong," Alpert said.
A longtime writer told Insider that Schneider once "openly stated he didn't like having female writers in the writers room."
Someone close to Schneider said that this "never happened." The person added that Schneider "really likes Tina Fey and her writing abilities," "reveres Lucille Ball, and considers her his 'Obi Won' of the multi-camera sitcom," and "often cites Ariana Grande as one of the funniest actors he's ever worked with."
After "The Amanda Show," Schneider rarely hired female writers, according to colleagues and Writers Guild of America West data. "Drake and Josh" and "Zoey 101" credit zero female writers. Other shows, including "iCarly," "Victorious," and "Sam & Cat" do not credit more than two women in the writers' room in the entirety of their runs.