Former Nickelodeon actor Drake Bell took to social media on Wednesday to address his supporters and clarify that his "Drake and Josh" co-star, Josh Peck, had connected with him in the wake of Bell's public airing of sexual assault claims in Investigation Discovery's, "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV."
Bell, in the new bombshell docuseries, recounted the alleged abuse he suffered over several months by his former dialogue and acting coach, Brian Peck (unrelated to Josh Peck,) whom he met in 2000 after landing a role on Nickelodeon sketch-comedy series, "The Amanda Show," in which he appeared alongside Amanda Bynes. At the time the abuse occurred, Bell was 15 years old, and was listed in the criminal case as "John Doe."
“Brian and I became really close because we had a lot of the same interests, which looking back, I think that was probably a little calculated,” Bell, now 37, said in "Quiet on Set."
Josh Peck and Bell, the show's titular characters who portrayed two teenage stepbrothers, worked together across the span of four seasons from 2004 to 2007. Following the release of "Quiet on Set," a number of social media users lambasted Josh Peck in the comments of a video unrelated to Bell or the docuseries that he posted online, calling out his "silence" and asking if he'd "checked on" Bell, per TMZ.
“I just want to clear something up," Bell said in a video shared on TikTok. "I’ve noticed a lot of comments on some of Josh’s TikToks and some of his posts. I just want to let you guys know that this is really … processing this and going through this is a really emotional time, and a lot of it is very, very difficult. So not everything is put out to the public.”
“But I just want you guys to know that he has reached out to me, and it’s been very sensitive," Bell continued. "But he has reached out to talk with me and helped me work through this. And has been really, really great. So just wanted to let you guys know that and to take it a little easy on him."
@drakebell ♬ I kind of relate - Drake Bell
Brian Peck was arrested in April of 2003 after Bell reportedly came clean to his mother about the repeated abuse, which he recalled in the docuseries as "extensive." Brian Peck spent 16 months in prison after pleading no contest to two charges of child abuse — oral copulation with a minor under 16 and performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old by a person 10 years older.
When asked by "Quiet on Set" producers if he would be comfortable going into further detail about the nature of the abuse he endured, he replied, "Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault and that will answer your question.”
Aside from Bell's explosive allegations, at the center of the docuseries was Dan Schneider, the Nickelodeon producer known for creating some of the network's most popular children's shows and sitcoms, including "Drake and Josh." Schneider reportedly created a toxic and abusive culture during his more than two decades of employment at Nickelodeon. Schneider on March 19 sat down for an interview with former "iCarly" actor, BooG!e also known as Bobby Bowman to discuss "Quiet on Set."
“Watching over the past two nights was very difficult — me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret," Schneider said. "I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.”
During a discussion about Brian Peck — who worked with Schneider — and Bell's allegations, Schneider became visibly emotional, saying, “That was probably the darkest part of my career."
