Jennette McCurdy Brushes Off Question About “The Creator” on ‘GMA’: “My Book Is So Much More”

Jennette McCurdy dropped by Good Morning America Tuesday morning (Aug. 9) to promote her new memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died. The book, which hones in on the iCarly actress’ traumatic relationship with her mother, her Nickelodeon days, and the reason she left acting, drew headlines for her detailing of inappropriate incidents with a man she refers to as “The Creator.”

When McCurdy’s spinoff series, Sam & Cat, was canceled after one season, she claims in her book that Nickelodeon offered her $300,000 to never speak publicly about her experience on the network, specifically about The Creator — something she declined.

McCurdy, who brushed off George Stephanopoulos’ question about the incident, said her book “is so much more than that.”

“I’ve seen a lot of headlines about the book and I’m really glad that the book’s receiving a lot of attention. That’s awesome, that’s wonderful,” McCurdy said. “What I will say is that the book is so much more than that. My book is so much more. It cannot be reduced to a headline. My life nor this book can be reduced to a headline.”

When Stephanopoulos asked again about the money and whether she declined it, she told him, “I have said everything I want to say about that in the book,” and that she hopes “that anybody whose attention might be peaked by these headlines” will consider reading it.

In an excerpt taken from the memoir (per Vanity Fair), McCurdy claims The Creator encouraged her to drink alcohol when she was only 18 years old, telling her the Victorious kids get drunk together all the time.

“The Creator always compares us iCarly kids to the kids on his other hit show, Victorious,” she wrote. “I think he thinks it’ll make us try harder.”

Later on, McCurdy claims The Creator gave her an unwanted shoulder massage, writing, “I want to say something, to tell him to stop, but I’m so scared of offending him.”

McCurdy starred in the Dan Schneider-created series, iCarly, from 2007 to 2012 as well as the Sam & Cat spinoff. She also made appearances on other Nickelodeon shows such as Zoey 101 and Victorious — both created by Schneider — True Jackson VP, Big Time Rush, and the 2013 television film Swindle.

While she doesn’t directly name Schneider as The Creator, many believe he is the one she is referring to. In a joint statement, he and Nickelodeon announced they were parting ways in 2018 after more than two decades. Aside from the aforementioned shows, Schneider also created Drake & Josh, The Amanda Show, and Kenan & Kel, among others.

A previous investigation into his work style did not show any evidence of sexual misconduct, though it did find allegations that he could be verbally abusive at times to coworkers, per Deadline. 

McCurdy’s book, I’m Glad My Mom Died, is out now.