Victoria Justice breaks her silence amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Dan Schneider.
While the former Victorious star, who began her career on Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101, was not involved in the ‘Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV’ docuseries, she does empathize with the issues brought up in the documentary, such as allegations of a harmful work environment. “Something that was very evident in the documentary is that Dan had a very large ego,” she said in a new interview. “Sometimes that ego clouded his better judgment and affected the way he treated people, and there were times I felt like I was being treated unfairly.”
“I’m not condoning any of his behavior,” she said. “At the end of the day, my relationship with Dan is a very complex one: I met him when I was 12 years old, and he’s the person that gave me this big break. He completely changed my life. Most likely I wouldn’t be here where I am today if it weren’t for him, and for him seeing something in me.” She continued, “For that I will always be grateful. After watching his apology, I think he recognizes that he did a lot of things wrong, and I think if he could step back into a time machine, he would do a lot of things differently.”
Justice is just one of several Nickelodeon alumni who have spoken out about Schneider and the Quiet on Set documentary. Most recently, former All That star Lori Beth Denberg accused the ex-producer of exposing her to porn and engaging in phone sex during her time on the show.
As we previously reported, Denberg gave an exclusive interview to Business Insider and opened up about some of the things that the head writer on the series put her through. Denberg alleged that in 1995, around her 19th birthday, Schneider requested a meeting with her and reportedly displayed pornographic clips on his computer. She described the “grand finale” of the clips as showing a woman engaging in oral sex with a donkey. “I feel like that is the first time he preyed on me,” Denberg told Business Insider.
Dan Schneider responded back to the allegations against him and released a statement to Business Insider and Variety and said Denberg’s claims are “wildly exaggerated and, in most cases, false.” He added, “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.”