Why Nickelodeon Host Marc Summers Walked Off His Quiet On Set Interview
This article contains allegations of sexual assault and child abuse.
Many millennials probably found it hard to watch the new docuseries "Quiet on Set," which details horrifying accounts of sexual assault and child abuse behind the scenes on several beloved Nickelodeon shows. Former "Double Dare" host Marc Summers appears in the Investigation Discovery series briefly and apparently, he was so infuriated by the way that the documentary crew approached him that he ended up leaving earlier than planned.
Summers revealed, in an interview on "Elvis Duran and the Morning Show," that he was never informed about the documentary's true purpose, which was to discuss the toxic environment on many Nickelodeon originals. "They asked me what I thought of Nick, and the first 10 to 12 seconds, from what I understand, in this documentary is me saying all these wonderful things," Summers said. "But they did a bait and switch on me" (per Variety).
The former game show host further claimed that he was not informed of the documentary's subject material before addressing a video he was shown of a scene featuring Ariana Grande in a bizarrely compromising position (considering how young she was at the time) which was initially played for laughs. "And so they showed me a video of something that I couldn't believe was on Nickelodeon. And I said, 'Well, let's stop the tape right here. What are we doing?'"
Marc Summers says he left Quiet on Set when he felt he'd been duped
As Marc Summers put it, he simply abandoned ship once he realized that the piece was describing some truly despicable behind-the-scenes behavior at Nickelodeon. "I left," Summers said ... but then, things only intensified.
"So I got a phone call about six weeks ago saying you're totally out of the show. And I went, 'Great.' Then they called me about four weeks ago and said, 'Well, you're in it, but you're only in the first part of it because you talked about the positive stuff of Nickelodeon,'" Summers said — and based on the fact that he felt fully misled by the entire production, he had a serious issue with the fact that they did use footage of him.
"What they didn't tell me — and they lied to me about — was the fact that they put in that other thing where they had the camera on me when they ambushed me," Summers said. "And so, now we get into a whole situation about who's unethical." (Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, who directed the docuseries, told Variety, "We are clear with each participant about the nature of our projects.")
Furthermore, Marc Summers says he never worked with Dan Schneider
Beyond all of that, Marc Summers claimed that the truly despicable players discussed in "Quiet on Set" — primarily producer Dan Schneider and dialogue coach Brian Peck, though there were others — weren't a part of his time at Nickelodeon. (Schneider was accused by several writers of creating a hostile work environment and ignoring any discomfort from the younger actors he employed. Drake Bell revealed, during the documentary, that Peck consistently sexually abused him while they worked together on Nickelodeon projects.)
"Those people came in after and took over our studios," Summers said, seemingly referring to Schneider. "I never met the man, I have no idea about any of those things," he says. "I mean, I know Kenan [Thompson] from 'Kenan and Kel,' because we've done stuff together. But as far as anything that happened on that show with any of those people, I never met any of them. I didn't know anybody. But it made it seem like I knew those people."
When asked if there were any consequences related to his hasty exit, Summers quipped that he had a phone call scheduled to discuss it further (presumably from the documentary crew.) "Quiet on Set" is streaming on Max now.
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).