Drake Bell recently spoke out about the abuse allegations made by Lori Beth Denberg against Dan Schneider, several weeks after the reports.
As we previously shared, in a recent interview with Business Insider, Lori Beth Denberg opened up about her time working with Dan Schneider. The former ‘All That’ actress recounted an unsettling incident where Schneider reportedly called her into his office and exposed her to inappropriate material.
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The actor from ‘Drake & Josh’ appeared on the ‘TODAY’ show and addressed the statements made by Lori Beth Denberg, stating that he had never crossed paths with her. When asked what he makes of the accusations, Bell said, “I can’t comment on any of that because I wasn’t around for any of that. I never experienced anything like that.”
Denberg previously alleged that in 1995, around her 19th birthday, Schneider requested a meeting with her and reportedly displayed pornographic clips on his computer. She described the “grand finale” of the clips as showing a woman engaging in oral sex with a donkey. “I feel like that is the first time he preyed on me,” Denberg told Business Insider.
Dan Schneider responded back to the allegations against him and released a statement to Business Insider and Variety and said Denberg’s claims are “wildly exaggerated and, in most cases, false.” He added, “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. 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 pointed out in his statement to Variety that Kate Taylor, the writer of the Business Insider report, was additionally listed as an executive producer on “Quiet on Set,” so he feels like she’s coming for him.
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“[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 joined the cast of “All That” at 17 years old and revealed to Business Insider that her relationship with Schneider became sexual when she was around 19. This involved Schneider reportedly engaging in sexual conversations with her over the phone and initiating phone sex in one instance. Denberg mentioned that she would stay overnight at Schneider’s house, where they would exchange massages and watch porn on his computer. She claimed that during one evening while watching “Jeopardy!” together, they made a bet where the winner would receive a massage. Denberg won the bet, and Schneider allegedly touched her breasts and put his mouth on them.
