All That star Lori Beth Denberg is the latest former Nickelodeon child star to open up about the abuse she endured while working with Dan Schneider.
via: Variety
“All That” cast member Lori Beth Denberg has accused Dan Schneider of showing her porn, initiating phone sex and more when she was just a teenager. Denberg starred on “All That” for four seasons between 1994 and 1998. Schneider was a head writer on the series. Denberg gave an interview to Business Insider in which she detailed the alleged situations Schneider put her in.
According to Denberg, it was around her 19th birthday in 1995 when Schneider asked for a meeting with her and allegedly showed her clips of pornography on his computer. She said the “grand finale” of the clips was one that depicted a woman performing oral sex on a donkey.
“I feel like that is the first time he preyed on me,” Denberg told Business Insider.
This is not the first time Schneider has been accused of showing pornography to someone he worked with on Nickelodeon. During an episode of Investigation Discovery’s docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” Jenny Kilgen, a writer on “The Amanda Show,” also claimed that Schneider showed writers porn on his computer during work in order to see “how far can I push this person.”
Schneider issued a statement to Business Insider and Variety in which he called Denberg’s accusations “wildly exaggerated and, in most cases, false.”
“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,” Schneider added. “If I did that with respect to Lori Beth, I sincerely apologize to her. But I cannot apologize for things I did not do.”
Schneider noted in his statement to Variety that the writer of the Business Insider report, Kate Taylor, was also an executive producer on “Quiet on Set” and added: “[The fact she] 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.”
Denberg was cast on “All That” when she was 17 years old and told Business Insider that her relationship with Schneider turned sexual when she was around 19. This included Schneider allegedly discussing sexual topics with her over the phone and initiating phone sex with her in one instance. Denberg said she would sleep over at Schneider’s house and they would give each other massages and Schneider would sometimes play porn on his computer. She alleged that one night when they were watching “Jeopardy!” together they made a bet that whoever solved the answers correctly would get a massage. Denberg won, and Schneider allegedly fondled her breasts and put his mouth on them.
“I couldn’t have been more green,” Denberg said, adding that her relationship with Schneider was like a “weird, abusive friendship.” She added: “I couldn’t have been more vulnerable.”
Denberg also recalled a time when Schneider allegedly lashed out on her. They were at dinner with fellow writers and crew members when Schneider allegedly asked the group if they thought Denberg’s breasts were different sizes. Denberg said she threw a piece of bread at him and he reacted by screaming at her.
“It was one of those turns that was just really upsetting and scary,” she said. “Everyone else seemed to completely blow it off.”
Another alleged encounter occurred when Schneider asked Denberg to drive with him to his auto repairman. According to Denberg, the two got pulled over by a police officer and Schneider revealed he had a gun and made her hide it under her skirt so the officer wouldn’t see.
Denberg said that she decided to finally talk about her history with Schneider in order for others to feel safe to do so as well, adding: “There’s right and wrong, and there’s true and false.”
Head over to Business Insider’s website to read more of Denberg’s accusations.
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