Complaining about the tendency of the New York Times to be gentle with the powerful in exchange for access is a bit like complaining about the headache you get after drinking three shots of Jagermeister. It is what it is and pointing out the obvious won't make the world any better.
Still, anyone who is familiar with career of noted teen television producer Dan Schneider likely wasn't thrilled with his recent interview in the NY Times, which offered him a lot of space to tout his hit TV-making talents while also arguing that his past behavior wasn't as bad as the industry might think.
For those of you unfamiliar with Schneider, he began his Hollywood career as an actor on the TV comedy Head Of The Class and also appeared in movies such as Hot Resort, Better Off Dead and Making The Grade. But in the early 1990s, he was hired by Nickelodeon to work on teen programming and the result was a string of successful shows that lasted nearly twenty years. He created or co-created All That, The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly, Victorious, Sam & Cat, Henry Danger and Game Shakers.
That impressive run came to an end in late March 2018, when Nickelodeon very publicly cut ties with Schneider and his Schneider's Bakery production company. Both sides were apparently bound by the terms of the separation non-disclosure agreement, but network sources made sure to leak one last shot at the producer. According to the stories, Schneider received a cash settlement as part of the termination (reported to be in the $7-$10 million range) and the cutting of ties was due to concerns about the producer's abusive behavior and some of his unsettling social media posts that seemed to unduly focus on the feet of some of his teen female stars.
The move might have come as a surprise to fans of his shows, but it was generally seen in Hollywood as a long-overdue reckoning of sorts. For all of his talents, Schneider had long had a reputation in industry as a difficult person. He frequently was viewed as an unpleasant boss who could be emotionally abusive. A vindictive showrunner who was often so focused on his "creative vision" that he chewed up crew and staff in search of his desired result. "Dan's a very smart guy," one former staffer told me several years ago. "But there is nothing worse than a smart guy who knows how to manipulate and berate people to get what he wants."
But there were also some more unsettling rumors circulating about Schneider at the time. Including some borderline creepy tweets he sent out about some of the cast of his shows: 
There were also some QAnon-level rumors about Schneider, suggesting he was guilty of everything from inappropriate sexual contact with some of his teen stars to possibly fathering a child with one his former actresses. All of these stories became wrapped up into the overall "Pedogate Hollywood" rumors that suggested a variety of familiar Hollywood names were involved in some sort of horrible sexual encounters with unwilling children.
I took a long look at these rumors after Schneider's split with Nickelodeon and was unable to find any evidence any of these stories were true. And I spoke with an executive at the network, who told me an official investigation hadn't discovered and evidence of sexual misconduct.
However, all of these more serious (and oftentimes more ludicrous) rumors overshadowed Schneider's often emotionally abusive behavior. It was so well-known in Hollywood circles that the mere mention of his name often brought comments along the lines of "uggg. THAT guy." But those stories tended to get lost beneath all of the more ludicrous rumors and it all just mixed together into a mess of conflicting stories.
In the three years since his split with Nickelodeon, Schneider has declined interview requests until this new interview with NY Times reporters Matt Stevens and Julia Jacobs. Headlined "Dan Schneider Once Reigned Over Children's TV. What Happened?," the piece address some of the past controversies in his career, but primarily lets Schneider make the argument that while he might have rubbed a few people the wrong way, it was all because he was passionate about his work and his vision for his shows:
Schneider said he never acted inappropriately with people with whom he worked. “I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t have the long-term friendships and continued loyalty from so many reputable people if I’d mistreated my actors of any age, especially minors,” he said.
And he said that if people perceived him as “difficult,” it was because he has “high standards.”
“I’m very willing to defend creative things that I believe in,” he said.
The article spends a fair amount of time reminding readers of Schneider's genius and the underlying thread from the comments and Schneider's remarks is that it would be a shame if he wasn't able to continue to share his magical creative touch:
To understand the void left when Schneider departed Nickelodeon, one has to consider the heights to which he helped propel the network. Schneider and the network grew up together, some of his former colleagues said, building a space for children and family programming from essentially nothing into the highest-rated network on basic cable TV.
Schneider’s body of work for Nickelodeon tended to be fast-paced, gag-filled laugh-track sitcoms that punctuated plot lines about friendship and adolescent exploits with jokes that were goofy and outlandish enough to get laughs out of tweens. From the dancing lobsters in “The Amanda Show” to the spaghetti tacos of “iCarly,” Schneider’s shows helped shape Nickelodeon’s comedy kingdom into a world where kids appeared to have the power to make their wildest thoughts into reality.
“There’s a certain musical cadence to sitcom acting,” said Yvette Nicole Brown, who played Helen on “Drake & Josh.” “Dan just hears the music.”
There are some supportive comments from several people, including a former Nickelodeon executive. But even some of the people who offer up complimentary stories acknowledge Schneider's very serious failings as a boss:
“I will always be grateful to Dan for taking a chance on me as a rash young writer fresh out of college, and for all I learned over the next six years,” said Arthur Gradstein, who worked as a writer and producer with Schneider across four shows. “Much of my experience with him was a blast: He could be generous and validating, and it was exciting to be around his talent and passion for creating entertainment.”
“But he was also unreasonably demanding, controlling, belittling and vindictive,” Gradstein continued, “with a willful disregard for boundaries or workplace appropriateness.”
There are also some anonymous comments about the producer and when I was doing interviews for previous stories I wrote about Schneider, I also found that many of the people most unhappy with his behavior were unwilling to say so publicly:
Other former colleagues described him as a workaholic, prone to yelling, who expected associates to work 16- or 20-hour days alongside him and writers to work on weekends at his home.
And while no one accused Schneider of any level of sexual misconduct, there were some concerns about his uncomfortable behavior:
But some people who worked on Schneider’s shows, and asked for anonymity because they said they feared reprisal from him, said they viewed his chumminess with his young actors as awkward and odd for a powerful, middle-aged showrunner. Several recalled that he often spent time during the work day interacting with young fans online and, after work, texting child actors about silly matters of teenage internet life.
In the end, Schneider denies some of the complaints, shrugs off some others as people simply misunderstanding his passion for his work. He very pointedly denies he engaged in any inappropriate sexual behavior. But he doesn't address the more relevant complaints that he was a considered by some who worked for him as an abusive and vindictive boss.
His point of view is also aided by these comments, which essentially argue, "Sure, Dan was difficult and maybe abusive. But he wasn't an abusive person, he was just doing it for the sake of the show":
“I know some people, they’ll say, ‘He’s tough,’” said Lauren Levine, a former Nickelodeon executive who worked closely with Schneider on the TV movie “Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh.” “To me it was never tough for tough sake. He has a vision that he wants to make happen.”
“It was never ego in my experience,” she added. “It was always what serves the show.”
And for their part, the NY Times reporters don't seemed to have pressed Schneider on those points. They don't ignore the allegations, but by giving him the opportunity to shrug off complaints and discuss his plans for a comeback, we're left with a piece that is obviously an attempt to whitewash Schneider's reputation and head off any complaints as he rolls out his newest show.
It's tempting to look at Schneider and say, "Oh, he seems to have changed," or "Well, it wasn't sexually abusive, so let's just move on."
But having spoken with a number of people who worked with him, I can tell you that the stories of emotional workplace abuse are varied and often harrowing. I have no doubt that Schneider is capable of creating more popular television programming in the future. But I'd argue that so can plenty of other people. Creators who have not been abusive to their employees and built a fortune off of the anguish he inflicted on others.
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