Kel Mitchellrevealed a tense encounter with Dan Schneider on the set ofAll That,claiming Schneider screamed at him in a closet. The former Nickelodeon star spoke about the incident during the June 11 episode of Keke Palmer’s podcast,Baby, This is Keke Palmer.At the time, Mitchell was about 18 or 19 years old, and Schneider was a writer on the popular sketch series.
“The vibe of the show started to change a little bit. [The show’s co-creator] Brian Robbinsstarted to do ‘Varsity Blues’and all these different movies and the production team started to blow up, so they left. And they left us with the head writer, Dan Schneider. So he’s writing, and me and him kind of bump heads a little bit.”
Mitchell shared that on one occasion, he and Schneider “had a big argument on set:”
“He was like, ‘Let’s go over here to this room right here, in this closet.’ He closed the door and he just took off, you know, just yelling all this wild stuff.”
“Being an adult at this point, I had a decision to make, you know what I mean? I was just like, OK, either we [are] going to fight or either I’m going to leave. And so that’s what I did. I left the situation.”
Mitchell gained popularity for his comedic work onAll ThatandKenan & Kel. In both series, Mitchell starred alongside Kenan Thompson. The two later co-starred in the filmGood Burger(written by Schneider) based on a sketch fromAll That. Mitchell and Thompson starred in a sequel,Good Burger 2, in 2023, andplan on working together again.
Dan Schneider’s Troubled Legacy
Mitchell’s comments follow a Discovery docuseries,Quiet on the Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, whichdetailed inappropriate behavior at Nickelodeon(stemming from Schneider and others). The docuseries aired in March and featured cast and crew members speaking about Schneider’s unprofessional behavior (including gender discrimination, verbal abuse, and creating a sexualized work environment). The series also explored allegations of sexual abuse at the network. Most notably, Drake Bell, star ofDrake & Josh, revealed that he was the victim of former dialogue coach Brian Peck. Peck was arrested in 2003 for sexually assaulting a minor and sentenced to prison after pleading no contest. It was previously unknown that Bell was the victim. Schneider createdDrake & Josh, which aired from 2004 to 2007.
Schneider, who began his career as an actor in his teens before launching a production company in 1996, is best known for creating successful Nickelodeon shows likeAll That, iCarly, andVictorious, and launching the careers of Amanda Bynes and Ariana Grande. In 2018, he exited Nickelodeon.
All That Star Lori Beth Denberg Makes More Allegations Against Nickelodeon’s Dan Schneider
The allegations against Dan Schneider come in the wake of the docuseries Quiet on Set alleging that he fostered a toxic work environment.
Shortly after the documentary’s release,Schneider sat down for a conversation withiCarly’s BooG!e, where he apologized for his past actions. He shared:
“Watching over the past two nights was very difficult. Me facing my past behaviors — some of which are embarrassing and that I regret and I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.”
Towards the end of the conversation, he claimed:
“There’s definitely things that I would do differently.”
