Drake Bell Confirms Josh Peck Has Reached Out Following Sexual Abuse Revelations

Since the docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV aired on the ID Channel and the Max streaming service, its revelations of a toxic work environment during the glory days of Nickelodeon have shocked many, but no bombshell shocked viewers more than the reveal that former child star Drake Bell, who starred on The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh, was the victim of ongoing sexual abuse beginning at age 15 at the hands of his former dialogue coach Brian Peck. Social media has been flooded with opinions about the documentary, with many showing their support for Bell while also seemingly throwing shade at his former co-star Josh Peck (no relation to Brian Peck) for staying silent. As this discourse has grown, Bell has chosen to make it clear that his former partner on Drake & Josh has reached out to him amid the revelations.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, Bell took to his own TikTok page to ask his fans to “take it a little easy” on Peck because he has reached out to him with positivity. Bell made this decision after the second part of the documentary aired, and many people began flooding Peck’s social media posts with comments such as, “The silence is so loud Josh…makes me sad” while another comment stated that Peck’s silence was “disgusting.”

“I just want to clear something up. I’ve noticed a lot of comments on some of Josh’s TikToks and some of his posts and I just want to let you guys know that 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 [Peck] has reached out to me, and it’s been very sensitive, but he has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this and has been really, really great. So I just wanted to let you guys know that and to take it a little easy on him.”

Quiet on Set Revelations Have Been Alarming

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV details the unbelievably toxic behind-scenes world of children’s television from the late 1990s to the early 2010s, with Dan Schneider’s tenure as a producer on Nickelodeon taking center stage. Schneider was accused of fostering a hostile work environment for the young stars that worked on his shows and for the few female writers and creatives that were employed as well. Schneider was responsible for several signature hits on the Nickelodeon network, including All That, The Amanda Show, Zoey 101, Drake & Josh, iCarly, Victorious, and Sam & Cat. Because these series were hits for the network, those in the docuseries believed his obvious sexism, racism, abuse, and inappropriate behavior were ignored.

It’s during the third episode of the docuseries that Bell details being a victim of sexual abuse by former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck when the former was only 15 and Peck was in his 40s. Peck was arrested and charged in 2003 for sexual abuse, but Bell’s identity was kept a secret at the time because the court documents were sealed. Peck served 16 months in prison and had to register as a sex offender, but he was still employed by Disney following his release on the children’s series, The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. They ultimately fired him after four episodes when trades began publishing stories about him being hired, despite his sex offender status, with reps for the Disney Channel explaining at the time that they were unaware of this fact.

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Drake & Josh Star Drake Bell Comes Forward as Sexual Abuse Victim

Drake Bell is speaking out against former dialogue coach Brian Peck in a new ID docuseries.

The docuseries also revealed that letters of support for Peck were sent to the presiding judge of the case at the time, with many of them being actors that included James Marsden, Taran Killam, the late Alan Thicke, Joanna Kerns, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle. Strong and Friedle, who both starred with Peck in episodes of Boy Meets World, have recently revealed they were lied to before sending their letters of support regarding his guilt, while Kerns stated she was unaware of the full extent of his crimes and now regrets sending the letter.

Despite Bell and Josh appearing on the popular Nickelodeon series as kids, their friendship has been up and down over the years. During an appearance on the podcast BFFS with Dave Portnoy, Josh Richards and Brianna Chickenfry back in 2022, Josh indicated that they were no longer friends. While saying they were “totally different kids”, he went on to state, “Drake & Josh is something I’ll be synonymous with forever, and I’m proud of it. And I want to like the guy that my name is attached to forever, but unfortunately, it just sort of worked out the way that it did.”