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Alexa Nikolas, a child actor who formerly starred on Nickelodeon’s ‘Zoey 101,’ is speaking out after Dan Schneider issued an apology in response to the ‘Quiet On Set’ docuseries.
Nikolas starred as “Nicole Bristow, ” the best friend of Zoey Brooks, in the 2005-released ‘Zoey 101’ series. Brooks was played by Jamie Lynn Spears, per IMDb.
On Tuesday, March 19, Nikolas appeared to catch wind that former Nick producer Dan Schneider issued an apology to former Nick staff for promoting an unsafe work environment. In response, Nikolas launched an almost two-hour-long livestream on YouTube.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Nikolas “called out” Schneider for issuing a public rather than private apology.
“When someone doesn’t personally come to you and apologize, it’s not an apology,” she explained. “If you hear about it through other people, it’s not really an apology, right? An apology is to the person that you hurt. That’s what an apology is for.”
Nikolas went on to call Schneider a “bully.”
“I would’ve appreciated if Dan apologized directly to me,” she stated. “He’s a bully, a meanie, and impacted my life, right? … Where’s a phone call of an apology? How come you can do all of this, how can everyone do all of this but not reach out to the person that they hurt?”
Ultimately, Nikolas called Schneider a “privileged white male” who doesn’t know “what accountability is.” Ultimately, the former ‘Zoey 101’ actor shared that she rejects Schneider’s apology.
“You don’t feel anything, Dan. You’re like every frickin’ privileged white male I’ve honestly ever met on set. You don’t even know what accountability is. You have no idea what it is… This is not the way… I would have so rather gotten a letter from you, for example, apologizing, genuinely, than having to witness the whole world watching whatever the hell this is,” she said. “I don’t forgive Dan Schneider… 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.”
Furthermore, Nikolas also chastised fellow Nick actor Bobbie K. Bowman for initiating the interview with Schneider.
As The Shade Room previously reported, the four-part ‘Quiet On Set’ docuseries featured former Nick staff alleging Schneider promoted an unsafe work environment, sexualized children, and was an “abusive” boss.
In response, Schneider admitted that watching the documentary was “embarrassing” and left him with “regrets.” The former Nick producer even issued an apology to his staff and acting crew.
“Watching over the past two nights was very difficult — me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret. I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology,” he said. “…When I watched the show, I could see the hurt in some people’s eyes, and it made me feel awful and regretful and sorry. I wish I could go back…”
Schneider also seemingly touched on the alleged “sexualized” work environment and content included in his Nick shows. He explained that while he’d be fine with having some jokes removed in the present day, he never had full autonomy in deciding what content could be used in his shows.
Furthermore, Schneider even became emotional while speaking about Drake Bell being sexually assaulted by a Nickelodeon dialogue coach and ended the interview by sharing advice for other entertainment executives working with children.
Swipe below to see what he said.
As The Shade Room previously reported, in August 2022, Nikolas initially made headlines when she held a protest outside of Nickelodeon headquarters in Burbank, California.
Nikolas reportedly went live from the protest and demanded Nick to start “protecting children and not predators.”
“I did not feel protected at Nickelodeon as a child,” she said. “[I demand that] Nickelodeon starts protecting children and not predators.”
During the stream, the former ‘Zoey 101’ actor reportedly referred to Schneider as “the creator of childhood trauma.”
