Drake Bell shared that his Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck has “reached out” to him, offering support after he revealed in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV that he was abused.
In the harrowing four-part ID docuseries, the actor-musician shared his story of alleged abuse by his former dialogue coach, Brian Peck, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a Nickelodeon child actor in 2004. Viewers have now learned that Bell, who was a minor at 15 years of age at the time, was at the center of that criminal case and conviction.
Following the revelations about allegations of abuse, some fans took to Josh Peck’s social media to criticize him for staying silent. After Bell’s stint on The Amanda Show from 1999 to 2002, he later starred alongside Josh Peck in the popular Nickelodeon show, Drake & Josh, for four seasons from 2004 to 2007.
“The silence is so loud Josh.. makes me sad,” one person wrote in the comment section of Josh Peck’s latest Instagram post from March 12, while another person added, “The silence is disgusting.”
On Tuesday, the day after the second part of the docuseries was released, Bell decided to take to TikTok to ask fans to “take it a little easy” on Josh Peck.
“I just want to clear something up,” he said in the video. “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.”
Bell continued, “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.”
Josh Peck previously spoke out about his relationship with Bell, more than a decade after Drake & Josh ended. The actor admitted on a March 2022 episode of the podcast, BFFs with Dave Portnoy, Josh Richards and Brianna Chickenfry, that the pair were no longer friends.
“We were kids, right? Obviously, there were times when we were closer than not, but when inevitably the show ended – I mean, we’re just totally different kids,” Josh Peck said at the time. “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.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Josh Peck’s rep for comment.
The docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV also outlined allegations of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior involving underage stars and crewmembers on Nickelodeon TV show sets overseen by Dan Schneider. Those programs included The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, Zoey 101, iCarly, Victorious and Sam & Cat. Schneider has since broken his silence after watching the docuseries.
It was also revealed that various actors and entertainment industry insiders, including Ron Melendez, Alan Thicke, James Marsden, Rider Strong and Will Friedle, wrote letters in support of Brian Peck, which were used to influence the judge during sentencing.
Earlier this week, Bell called out Strong and Friedle, who starred in Boys Meets World, for not apologizing for their support of Brian Peck. Devon Werkheiser, who starred in Nickelodeon‘s Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, also faced backlash this week for mocking the docuseries, but he later apologized.
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