All That actress Lori Beth Denberg leveled accusations of disturbing sexual misconduct against the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series’ producer Dan Schneider.
Denberg, now 48, claimed in a new Business Insider piece that Schneider — who took over as showrunner in the series’ third season — showed her pornography during her time on All That and engaged in phone sex with her.
In the same story, Schneider, 58, denied Denberg’s account, calling it ‘wildly exaggerated’ and ‘mostly false.’ She is speaking out in the wake of the docuseries Quiet On Set, which included multiple accusations of inappropriate behavior against Schneider from former Nickelodeon actors.
Denberg’s account opens with a meeting with Schneider in which he seemingly apologized for the way a female producer on All That — which originally aired from 1994 to 2005 — had spoken to the actress about her recent weight gain, before allegedly taking the meeting down an inappropriately sexual path.
According to Denberg, who had turned 19 around the time of the meeting, Schneider said he had wanted to speak to her himself since he knew what it was like to be overweight.
All That actress Lori Beth Denberg, now 48, leveled accusations of disturbing sexual misconduct against the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series’ producer Dan Schneider to Business Insider; seen in 2023 in Connecticut
Denberg claimed that Schneider, 58, showed her pornography during her time on All That and engaged in phone sex with her. He denied the account as ‘wildly exaggerated’ and ‘mostly false’; seen in 2024 reacting to the docuseries Quiet on Set
Denberg appreciated Schneider’s understanding, but the conversation quickly changed, and soon the producer was allegedly showing her pornographic videos on a computer.
The ‘grand finale’ was allegedly a clip of a woman performing oral sex on a goat.
‘I feel like that is the first time he preyed on me,’ Denberg said.
According to her, Schneider would play porn for her multiple times throughout her tenure on All That’s first four seasons, from 1994 to 1998.
She also claimed that he could be explosive on set — where he took over as showrunner starting with All That’s third season — and she alleged that he once initiated phone sex with her.
Denberg also described Schneider allegedly sexually assaulting her in one story after she lost a bet to him.
After her meeting over her weight, Denberg said Schneider began to make frequent sexual phone calls to her, including one in which he allegedly initiated phone sex.
The series was originally filmed in Orlando, Florida, but after it moved to Los Angeles, Denberg said she began spending significant time at Schneider’s home, which included multiple sleepovers.
The actress said the two didn’t have sex at the sleepovers, but they did give each other massages, and she claimed that Schneider often showed her porn.
Her claims were corroborated to Business Insider by her high school friend Farah Alvin, who said Denberg told her at the time about the pornography, phone sex and how Schneider would ask for massages.
Denberg recounted a meeting around her 19th birthday when Schneider allegedly showed her pornography, including a video of a woman performing oral sex on a goat; still from All That
He also allegedly had her over to his house for sleepovers, where he would show her pornography. At other times they allegedly had sexual phone calls, all of which a high school friend of Denberg’s says she told her at the time; Schneider seen in 2015 in NYC
In another disturbing incident, Denberg was a passenger in Schneider’s car when he was pulled over by a police officer for an issue with his tags.
The showrunner had a gun with him, and he allegedly handed it to her to hide, so she slipped it out of view under her skirt.
Denberg claimed that the relationship took a more physical turn when she was 20 or 21.
During a night together at Schneider’s home, the two watched Jeopardy and bet on who could guess more of the answers correctly.
Denberg won, and the bet stipulated that Schneider would give her a massage, but she alleged that he went further and touched her breasts and even put his mouth on them.
Denberg said that she didn’t see these interactions as inappropriate at the time since she was over 18, but in the last few years she has come to see that there was a significant power imbalance between herself and Schneider, who was her boss on all That.
Now she believes that if she had refused any of his affections that he might have given her less screen time on All That or been even more aggressive with her on set.
‘I couldn’t have been more green,’ Denberg said. ‘I couldn’t have been more vulnerable.’
Denberg said the two watched Jeopardy at Scheider’s house one night and bet that whoever guessed the most right answers would get a massage. She won, but Schneider went further and allegedly fondled and put his mouth on her breasts
Schneider was allegedly explosive on set and would humiliate Denberg in front of the cast and crew; seen in 2017 with (L–R) SVP of Talent and Casting for Nickelodeon Shelly Sumpter Gillyard and EVP of Global Inclusion Strategy and Diversity of Viacom Marva Smalls
As an example of Schneider’s mercurial temper, Denberg recalled a dinner when she was 18 or 19 with writers and crew members at which Schneider allegedly asked the group — unprompted — if that had noticed that Denberg’s breasts were different sizes.
She threw a dinner roll at him to move on from the awkward topic, but Schneider exploded, claiming that his allegedly injured eye was ‘hanging on by a thread,’ before he left the restaurant in a huff.
‘It was one of those turns that was just really upsetting and scary,’ Denberg said, but ‘Everyone else seemed to completely blow it off.’
She says that Schneider began to lash out at her more and more on set in front of the cast and crew as her time on the show progressed.
A source who worked on All That who wished to be anonymous out of fear of professional repercussions agreed that Schneider could be cruel to Denberg, and they claimed he would sometimes change scripts to make scenes humiliating for her.
When the show’s co-creator was was absent one day, Schneider allegedly had Denberg film a scene in which she was soaked with water for hours on a cold soundstage, and she claims he refused to write jokes for her until the last minute, forcing her to deliver them without rehearsal in front of a live studio audience.
She called his strategy a ‘power play.’
Denberg left All That in 1998, after filming the fourth season. At the time, she didn’t care to see Schneider ever again, but she was lured back to Nickelodeon when her former costar Amanda Bynes asked her to visit the set of The Amanda Show, which Schneider created.
‘I decided that I loved her more than I hated Dan,’ Denberg said of Bynes, who was only 10 when she joined All That for its third season.
Denberg also claimed that Schneider asked her to hide his gun after he was pulled over by a police officer; pictured with the cast of All That
Denberg thought that Bynes — who was 13 at the time — looked ’emaciated’ on the set, and she heard Schneider say that the show had paused filming recently because Bynes was ‘tired,’ though she didn’t speak to him directly.
Denberg shared her concerns about Bynes’ health and the toxic environment that Schneider fostered to Brian Robbins, who co-created and executive produced All That.
He was also a producer on The Amanda Show, as well as Bynes’ talent agent, and he was Schneider’s boss.
Denberg claims she burst into tears as she shared her concerns to Robbins, who allegedly didn’t ask any follow-up questions and defended Schneider. She worried he wouldn’t take action, as he had witness Schneider’s on-set blow-ups without criticizing them, and he and the showrunner had been friends and colleagues for years.
The actress subsequently had a meeting in 2000 at Nickelodeon’s New York headquarters to share her concerns about Schneider, though she never mentioned his allegedly sexual behavior at either meeting.
Denberg was told that Bynes’ schedule had been rearranged to make it easier on her.
But Denberg returned to LA to hear from a friend working on The Amanda Show that she had been barred from the set after her photo was placed in the guard shack. A source who worked on the show confirmed her photo was posted, and they claimed it was known to the crew that she wasn’t allowed on set due to her meetings with Robbins and Nickelodeon about Schneider.
Denberg said she felt surging ‘disgust and defeat and sadness’ at the development.
‘I felt like I tried to help her — to help Amanda, and couldn’t,’ she said.
Bynes has had numerous widely publicized mental health issues in recent years, leading to a conservatorship — which was ended in 2022 — and two psychiatric holds last year.
Denberg complained to producers and execs of Schneider’s treatment of Amanda Bynes (pictured) — then 13 — on her eponymous show, but she was then barred from set
Schneider was subsequently pushed out at Nickelodeon after a 2018 investigation that didn’t find evidence of sexual misconduct, but determined that he had been verbally abusive in the past.
Denberg recalled being furious that the executives she had warned about Schneider had gone on to be promoted and to have major success in subsequent years despite allegedly ignoring her.
Schneider responded to Denberg’s claims, calling them ‘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,’ he said. ‘If I did that with respect to Lori Beth, I sincerely apologize to her. But I cannot apologize for things I did not do.’
