“All That” star Lori Beth Denberg has accused former Nickelodeon writer and executive Dan Schneider of fondling her breasts, showing her pornography and attempting to have phone sex during their time on the show. Schneider has denied the accusations.
From Miss Fingerly, Sweaty Woman, Mrs. Hushbaum and more, Denberg was well-known for her roles on the kids’ sketch comedy series, which Schneider helped pen during his beginnings at the children’s network. Their tumultuous relationship was seemingly sparked after Schneider heard about a producer telling the actress that she was overweight.
“I feel like that is the first time he preyed on me,” Denberg said in an interview with Business Insider out Tuesday. Denberg also said Schneider showed her porn videos, one of which featured a woman performing oral sex on a donkey.
The “All That” boss allegedly put her in a number of uncomfortable situations. In two separate instances, she said Schneider lashed out at her, and in another, he pushed a gun toward her during a traffic stop over an issue with his car tags.
In a statement to TheWrap, Schneider called Denberg’s accusations “wildly exaggerated and, in most cases, false.”
“The fact that an executive producer of ‘Quiet on Set’ would pursue allegations regarding what may have happened between adults nearly thirty years ago — only a week after I filed a defamation lawsuit accusing ‘Quiet on Set’ of being intentionally false and misleading — seems more than coincidental,” he said.
Schneider continued: “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.”
Denberg did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
According to Business Insider, this is the first time Denberg has ever come forward with experiences related to Schneider’s alleged misconduct. The actress shared that her relationship with Schneider became sexual once she turned 19. In 1996, when “All That” moved from Orlando to Los Angeles, Denberg said she started spending long nights with Schneider and would sometimes sleep over. During some of those nights, Denberg said they would give one another massages and Schneider would play porn on his computer. At one point, the pair’s relationship got “weird” and “abusive.”
In another instance, Denberg said the two would get together to watch “Jeopardy!” They ended up making a bet on who could get the most answers right, with whoever won getting a massage. When Denberg succeeded, she said Schneider fondled her breasts and put his mouth on them. Over the course of their relationship, Denberg said she didn’t see their time together as inappropriate.
“I couldn’t have been more green,” Denberg said, noting that she feared Schneider would stop writing sketches for her if she expressed that she had an issue with his behavior. “I couldn’t have been more vulnerable.”
Denberg starred on “All That” for four seasons, starting from its premiere in 1994 to 1998. Schneider also left “All That” after its fourth season to run “The Amanda Show.”
Schneider and Denberg’s statements come nearly two months after the release of Investigation Discovery’s five-part documentary series “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” which took a look behind the scenes of Nickelodeon’s most prolific and controversial writer and producer. The docuseries chronicled how, during his years-long reign of alleged toxic workplace behavior, Schneider birthed what is known today as the network’s most successful eras, as well as the most horrific times for child actors and production crew members.
In 2017, as the #MeToo movement started to gain momentum in Hollywood, Nickelodeon launched a second probe and Schneider was dropped a year later. The investigation didn’t find evidence of “inappropriate sexual behavior” or inappropriate behavior with children, but it did find evidence of him being abusive in the workplace.
