‘Zoey 101’ alum Alexa Nikolas claims Dan Schneider sat in fitting room as she changed
Former “Zoey 101” star Alexa Nikolas claims Dan Schneider would demand to participate in each one of her costume fittings when she was just 12 year old.
Nikolas, now 30, alleged on Dear Media’s “Real Pod” Wednesday that the famed Nickelodeon creator, 56, would sit on the other side of a “curtain” in her fitting room until she came out.
“Whenever I had wardrobe fittings, [Schneider] always had to be in them,” Nikolas claimed. “Thank God there was a curtain, but he was literally [sitting] on [a] chair right outside of the curtain.”
Nikolas described the type of outfits her character, Nicole Bristow, would wear on the show, which mainly consisted of “very short skirts.”
“[It was] to the point where he would sit in the chair, and I would come out and do a little spin. [Schneider] would look at the wardrobe artist and say, ‘Can I have the Polaroids?'” Nikolas said, referring to photos taken of her dressed in character.
Schneider did not immediately return Page Six’s request for comment, but his press rep issued a statement from former Nickelodeon president of content and production Russell Hicks that read in part, “Dan cared about the kids on his shows even when sometimes their own families unfortunately did not. He was the shoulder they cried on when something happened to them. He understood what they were going through. Dan was like the great high school counselor you could always turn to for help and guidance. And he was their biggest champion.”
Hicks also asserted that the network “has a talent management department that is keeping tabs on everything that is happening and going to every event these kids go to,” adding, “Every single thing that Dan ever did on any of his shows was carefully scrutinized and approved by executives at Nickelodeon.”
Nikolas said on the podcast that she didn’t realize there was anything off about the situation until she began working on other shows such as “Mad Men.”
“I started to realize, ‘Oh, so the creator isn’t in the room for the wardrobe fittings,'” she said. “And I remember them being like, ‘Yeah, no. We just send them a photo, and they approve with the producers.'”
The “Red State” star staged a protest in August outside of Nickelodeon’s headquarters in Burbank, Calif., with signs that read the network “didn’t protect” her from Schneider.
“I did not feel protected at Nickelodeon as a child, personally,” she said on Instagram Live at the time. “I’m demanding that Nickelodeon starts protecting children and not predators.”
She added, “I did not feel safe around Dan Schneider while I was working at Nickelodeon.”
The children’s network dropped Schneider after almost 25 years of working together in 2018 amid rumors of “abusive behavior” on the sets of his numerous hit TV series, which also included “The Amanda Show,” “Drake & Josh” and “iCarly.”
Industry sources later told Page Six that Schneider took a $7 million payout to leave; however, Viacom-turned-Paramount communications executive David Bittler described Schneider’s departure at the time as a “mutual decision.”
In June 2021, Schneider addressed his split from Nickelodeon and his alleged behavior.
“I wouldn’t have the long-term friendships and continued loyalty from so many reputable people if I’d mistreated my actors of any age, especially minors,” he told the New York Times.
