Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, a four-part series, premiered on Sunday, March 17, 2024. The docuseries look into the recent allegations made against Nickelodeon’s former production assistant Jason Handy, now a convicted sex offender. The final two episodes will air on ID this Monday, March 18, 2024, at 9 p.m. ET.
Quiet on Set delves into several allegations of abuse, sexual misconduct, and a toxic environment of sets of popular TV shows. Former child actors and staff members have alleged that a one-time prominent writer-producer Dan Schneider, Jason Handy, animator Ezel Channel, and dialogue coach/actor Brian Peck. While Schneider had repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, the latter three are now convicted sex offenders, reported The New York Post.
The docuseries includes interviews with former All That actors Bryan Hearne, Katrina Johnson, Giovonnie Samuels, and Kyle Sullivan. Others include Raquel Lee Bolleau (The Amanda Show), Drake Bell (Drake and Josh), and Alexis Nikolas (Zoey 101), among others. Additionally, two writers and a director allegedly faced a toxic environment on Nickelodeon’s show sets.
Jason Handy: What are the allegations against him?
According to Fox News, Quiet on Set’s second episode details the case of Jason Handy, a production assistant. Handy was often responsible for escorting the child actors around on set. In the docuseries, a woman, identified as MJ, spoke about her daughter, identified as Brandi, as a victim of Handy. MJ claimed to have received inappropriate emails from him. USA Today further reported MJ noted, “We as parents were not allowed on the set.” She recalled Handy being “very charismatic, very charming.”
The outlet reported that Brandi was a guest star on The Amanda Show for one episode. The then-11-year-old stayed connected with Handy via email for future opportunities. MJ claimed that their email exchanges seemed “innocent” but alleged that on one occasion, Handy sent Brandi a nude photograph. MJ said, “It was a picture of him [Jason Handy] naked masturbating.” She claimed, “He [Handy] said he had sent it to her because he wanted her to see that he was thinking of her.”
MJ claimed she never reported the incident to authorities but took Brandi out of the industry. Nonetheless, law enforcement arrested Jason Handy in 2003 after receiving a tip about inappropriate material present at his house. Police found over 1700 images of children in compromised positions, per Entertainment Weekly. They also found seven videos of children engaged in sexually explicit activities.
Furthermore, MJ claimed other evidence included ziplock bags from various young girls that “had some kind of token in it.” One such ziplock bag consisted of Brandi’s name. Quiet on Set also revealed that in his personal diary, Handy wrote sentences like “I am a pedophile, full blown.” Other entries included, “I really have been giving into my desire for little girls these past few weeks” and “I even struggle on a day-to-day basis of how I can find a victim to rape if I have to.”
Was Nickelodeon’s Jason Handy convicted?
In 2004, Jason Handy pleaded no contest to lewd acts on a child, distributing sexually explicit material by email, and child sexual exploitation. These charges stemmed from his actions against underage girls who appeared on Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show and Cousin Skeeter. EW said that Handy assaulted his second victim, who was from Cousin Skeeter, at her home in 2000. He later told the girl not to tell her mother and assured her he could get her jobs on other shows.
At the time, Handy received a six-year prison sentence. Eventually, after his release in 2009, he moved to North Carolina and registered as a sex offender, reported the Los Angeles Times. Then, about a decade later, in 2014, authorities in North Carolina arrested 40-year-old Handy. They took him into custody on three counts of indecent liberties with a child and two counts of sex offender registry violations.
Former child actors told People Magazine that they were unaware of Jason Handy and Brian Peck’s abuse. All That alum Giovonnie Samuels said, “We’re working 12 to 13 hour days and when you’re on there for seasons, you grow comfortable and you do let your guard down, and again, you’re also a child or a teenager where you’re looking to an adult like this is acceptable behavior and it’s not.”
She further stated, “We need better laws to protect our kids on set. I really hope that with people watching this, that people will do better and not just look at children as a paycheck.”
Peck is a former dialogue Nickelodeon dialogue coach who was convicted of sex crimes in 2004. His victim, Drake Bell, the former Drake and Josh star, discloses details about the abuse on Quiet on Set.
The final two episodes of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV premiere on March 18, 2024.
