Photo courtesy: Google Photos
Every rose has its thorns. The ugly thorn in the entertainment industry’s side is its long history of criminal activity, sexual abuse, and assault allegations. For decades, the media has been flooded with new information about the problems that Hollywood faces, many of which began to show in 2017. That year, the #MeToo Movement helped encourage victims to speak up against moguls that have questionable practices and pasts. Over the last few weeks, the two names that have been circulating in the media are executives Dan Schneider and Diddy.
On March 17th, “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” premiered as a four-part documentary. This show focused on the many negative experiences that child stars and employees had while on the set of popular Nickelodeon shows such as “All That!” The name that caught many people’s attention was Dan Schneider, a producer and screenwriter who helped Nickelodeon enter its golden age.
Kayla Davis is a first-year political science scholar who has an interest in media law. She has been following the Schneider Allegations since 2022 when Nickelodeon star Jennette McCurdy released her book “I’m Glad My Mom Died.” Many believe that McCurdy is detailing her experiences with Dan Schneider throughout the memoir. Davis’ interest in the allegations peaked with the release of the documentary.
“Those shows were a large part of my childhood, so it was crazy to hear what was going on,” Davis said, “I had to go back and look at the episodes, and it was insane to see the inappropriate content that they were describing in almost every show he was involved with.”
Dan Schneider’s claim to fame was creating sitcoms for children, starring child actors in the 90s to 2010s. Some favorites include “iCarly, Victorious, and Zoey 101.” “Quiet on Set” highlights how many of these shows had scenes that were inappropriate, and some would go as far as to say that they were borderline child pornography.
Tyra Garcia, a junior political science scholar, first heard about the allegations raised against Dan Schneider on TikTok. After watching the documentary, she paid close attention to not only what was in the shows Schneider worked on but the things that occurred in their production.
“[Allegedly Dan had] a short temper with specifically female staff and had a reputation of hiring creeps or pedophiles,” Garcia mentioned. “In my opinion, he was in the wrong for his creepy and misogynistic nature.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs is another example of the dark side of entertainment. Diddy is a rapper, producer, and overall businessman from New York. For decades, there have been allegations raised against him related to drugs and sexual assault. Recently, his home was raided by Homeland Security, causing a resurgence of information and drawing attention to the case.
Many stars are alleged to be involved, such as Yung Miami, Meek Mill, and Diddy’s son Christian Combs.
Kayla Davis, a first-year political science scholar, like many people, has been aware of the accusations against Diddy for years. However, the raid added a new level of seriousness because it insinuates that there is hard evidence suggesting that he is guilty. She also expressed disappointment with how media outlets and the general public have reacted to the developing information.
“It was another kind of weird moment because it put into perspective the gravity of the situation,” Davis said, “In the Diddy case, the only large media attention other than the news has been people making memes and jokes about it.”
The way that the allegations against both industry executives have been broadcast begs much larger questions. Why is the public able to make jokes about one situation while the other causes public outrage? Not only that, but why is it that one situation is made into a documentary while the other is primarily picked up by gossip sites? Tyra Garcia chimes in.
“I think people were ready to make Dan Schneider a villain based on the fact that we knew about it and the abuse of child stars,” Garcia said. “With Diddy, I think he became too much of a household name for multiple generations and has potential ‘dirt’ on too many other stars that the world just doesn’t want out yet.”
There is no simple answer as to why Diddy and Dan Schneider have been receiving different levels of attention in the media. However, it is clear that the entertainment industry has a long way to go. As people continue to speak out about the abuses they have suffered, the public will be able to learn more about what happens behind closed doors. On April 7th a fifth episode of “Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” will be released. Updates on the case against Diddy are available through many entertainment news sources.