Another former child star is calling out Dan Schneider — and revealing even MORE disturbing allegations about the former Nickelodeon creator!
Jack Salvatore played Mark Del Figgalo on Zoey 101 then went on to work with Dan even closer as an intern at his production department and in the writer’s room on Sam & Cat and Victorious. And he has a LOT to say after watching Quiet on Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV.
As Perezcious readers know, the new docuseries revealed disturbing details about what was going on behind the scenes at the popular kids’ network in the late ‘90s to early-2000s. While much of the series thus far has focused on Drake Bell opening up about being the victim of sexual assault by a man working at the network, Schneider also found himself in the hot seat. First off, he allegedly creating a toxic workplace. But more crucially he’s been accused of being downright creepy around all the kid cast members!
Related: Drake Bell’s Abuser Was Pen Pals With Child Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy?!
After watching the documentary, Jack took to TikTok on Thursday to share even more BTS details of his time working with Dan. And it’s f**king nuts!
He began by praising the doc for doing a “really good job of uncovering the details of workplace toxicity, specifically on Dan Schneider shows on Nickelodeon.” He then shared the sketchy things he saw on set, saying:
“We could talk about the massages. We could talk about the fact that he would literally count his gold coin collection in front of his crew who was living paycheck to paycheck. We could talk about how sometimes he would bring out his shotgun to scare one of the writers when they were working at his house.”
WTF?!?
The actor then recalled overhearing a conversation about another child star, continuing:
“We could talk about the high-level conversations I wasn’t supposed to hear about how Nickelodeon didn’t want to recommend antidepressants for Jennette McCurdy after her mom died for fear that she might kill herself and make the network look bad.”
Jeez. That’s so messed up. Jennette has been very open about her abusive mother and how she hated being a child star because of the icky things a figure she dubbed the “Creator” would allegedly do on set, like attending her costume fittings (Schneider was the creator of both iCarly and Sam & Cat). In the latest doc, others also remarked how surprising it was to see the then-21-year-old back at work so quickly after her mother passed away from cancer — she reportedly took less than a week off! Now to know that the people who should’ve been protecting her were more concerned about their bottom line? Horrifying!
Jack went on to focus on what he hopes this documentary — and folks finally speaking out — will accomplish, saying:
“But what I do want to talk about is never letting this stuff happen again. This is an entire industry built on hope, and dreams, and adrenaline, and wish fulfillment. And that can be a very dangerous thing for megalomaniacs to wield. Even in posting this, I’m a little afraid. Is this going to screw up my career moving forward? I have no idea, but I think it’s important and it needs to be said. Because if my silence ensures the perpetuation of environments I don’t want to work in anymore then what is the point in working in them?”
So important to stand up! And thankfully, more and more child stars are beginning to speak out too, so hopefully, it really will result in change!
As for Schneider’s on-camera interview, in which he addressed some of the allegations made in the documentary while being interviewed by iCarly star BooG!E, Jack quipped:
“And until Homeboy goes on 60 Minutes to answer some questions from some real journalists and not a cast member of his who he’s paying to be there… Apology not accepted.”
CALL HIM OUT! See the full thing (below):
@jacksalvs We deserve a better grade of hero. #quietonset @Max #danschneider
Reactions?! Sound OFF in the comments!
[Image via DanWrap/YouTube & Nickelodeon & MEGA/WENN]