Alexa Nikolas Blasts Dan Schneider For ‘Playing The Sympathy Card’ In Apology
Former Nickelodeon star Alexa Nikolas is slamming Dan Schneider following his apology, accusing him of "playing the sympathy card."
As you know, there have been numerous claims circulating for years regarding Schneider's alleged inappropriate behavior with young actors while he worked on the network. These accusations range from creating a toxic work environment to engaging in inappropriate conduct with underage performers.
Schneider also faced speculation and rumors about having a foot fetish, with some alleging that he incorporated scenes involving characters' feet in his shows in a suggestive or inappropriate manner. However, these claims have not been confirmed.
He has also been accused of s-xualizing scenes involving young actors and actresses, including one on 'Zoey 101' with Jamie Lynn Spears and Alexa Nikolas.
Goo Pop Gone Wrong On 'Zoey 101'
In the docuseries, Alexa Nikolas from ‘Zoey 101′ recalled a scene where she had trouble opening up a goo pop, which then resulted in a clear, greenish goo being squirted onto Jamie Lynn Spears’ face, which several of the men allegedly referred to as a “c-m shot,” per Nikolas.
Nikolas has also previously spoken out about the abusive and toxic environment at Nickelodeon.
“Whenever I had wardrobe fittings, [Schneider] always had to be in them,” Nikolas said during an interview with Victoria Garrick on the Real Pod podcast last year. “Thank God there was a curtain, but he was literally on a chair right outside of the curtain. I had to wear very short skirts. Something that [in] the interviews that I’ve done that I haven’t mentioned yet was that I had to wear biker shorts under my skirts, and they had to cut the biker shorts because the skirts were too short. … I was constantly having to roll down these biker shorts.”
Alexa Nikolas Speaks Out Against Nickelodeon
In the 'Quiet On Set' docuseries, Nikolas made an appearance where she talked about her experience when filming 'Zoey 101'.
"Towards the end of season 2 of 'Zoey 101', I wasn’t happy," she shared. "I actually could not show up to set anymore without crying. A lot of my self-worth was deeply damaged from that set experience. Me as a person was altered for life."
Dan Schneider Apologizes Following Airing Of 'Quiet On Set'
After the docuseries aired, Dan Schneider sat down with BooG!E, a former 'iCarly' actor, where he addressed several of the allegations made against him by other former Nickelodeon staff and crew.
“Watching over the past two nights was very difficult,” he said of the docuseries, which is now streaming on MAX. “Me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret, I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.”
“I wish I could go back, especially to those earlier years of my career, and bring the growth and the experience that I have now and just do a better job and never, ever feel like it was okay to be an a–hole to anyone, ever,” he went on.
Alexa Nikolas Says She Doesn't Forgive Dan Schneider
In her nearly two-hour video, Nikolas addressed Schneider's recent apology, claiming it was not a real apology.
“When someone doesn’t personally come to you and apologize, it’s not an apology,” she said in the video. “If you hear about it through other people, it’s not really an apology, right? An apology is to the person that you hurt…. I would’ve appreciated if Dan apologized directly to me…. Where’s a phone call of an apology? How come you can do [that video]…but not reach out to the person that [you] hurt?”
"I don't forgive Dan Schneider," she continued, "Not saying I'll never, right? But currently, right now, that made me a little more upset, just because that just wasn't it. That wasn't proper accountability. That was avoiding a lot of the main discussions here that were mentioned in 'Quiet on Set'. This was him playing the sympathy card, centering himself, playing the victim."
Alexa Nikolas Calls Dan Schneider A 'Privileged White Male'
She did not stop there, as she continued to slam the former Nickelodeon producer, claiming, “You don’t feel anything, Dan."
Nikolas went on to accuse Schneider of being like "every fr-ckin’ privileged white male I’ve honestly ever met on set" adding that he "doesn't even know what accountability is."
"You’re searching for it maybe, but you haven’t landed on it. That’s for sure," she told her viewers. "This is not the way. I don’t wanna have to watch this. I would have so rather gotten a letter from you, for example, apologizing, genuinely, than having to witness the whole world watching whatever the h-ll this is.”
'Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV' is currently streaming on MAX. It will also re-air on Investigation Discovery this Friday, March 22, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET.