The recent ID documentary, Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV has raised several headlines for some bombshell revelations. The docu-series exposed some highly controversial details about Nickelodeon. As if it was not enough to shock the audience, actor Drake Bell came forward and talked about his disturbing incident of being s*xually assaulted by dialogue coach, Brian Peck.
Drake Bell worked in some of the most renowned Nickelodeon projects like The Amanda Show, Drake & Josh, and The Fairly OddParents. The Quiet On Set docu-series delved deep into the problematic work environment of Nickelodeon. It also exposed the names of several celebrities who wrote letters of support to Brian Peck during his trial.
Following the release of the docu-series, Bell recently appeared in a podcast and added more to the controversy.
What did Drake Bell say about Brian Peck’s supporters?
The docu-series directed by Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz has uncovered disturbing details about Nickelodeon’s work environment. It also disclosed the names of 41 celebrities who came in support of dialogue coach, Brian Peck. Drake Bell said on The Sarah Fraser Show (via Deadline) that he only got to know about the letters from the series.
The Ultimate Spider-Man voice actor expressed his disappointment that many of these celebrities were his close associates. Several popular names like James Marsden, Taran Killam, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle wrote letters to the judge during Brian Peck’s trial. Drake Bell revealed that he used to feel safe around these people, who he previously didn’t know supported a child predator.
“I learned that later, I mean, there were multiple people that had supported him that went on to work on Drake & Josh. And I worked with these people every day, and I thought they were my friends. They were people in positions of power, that they were my bosses. They were directors, they were producers. It was a situation where I thought I was surrounded by, I thought I was safe.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Brian Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison in October 2004 for charges of child s*xual abuse and was registered as a s*x offender. Nobody knew that the victim was Drake Bell until now. Bell publicly called out the celebrities for not apologizing to him- “I haven’t gotten an apology, or a sorry, from anybody that had written letters or was involved in supporting him at all”.
Drake Bell was deeply saddened by the fact that he thought the problem was over with Peck’s sentencing, even though it was not. He said that the people he thought were his friends thought about him “in certain ways” and chose to support such a human being.
Drake Bell is not convinced by the justifications given for writing the letters
Soon after the documentary was released, Nickelodeon stated to Variety that they were “dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma” of Bell. The 37-year-old actor said that it was a well-tailored response by the company. He highlighted that Nickelodeon does not care about a bit about the truth. He criticized that they still put on his shows while he had to pay for his therapy.
“I find it pretty empty, their responses, because, I mean, they still show our shows, they still put our shows on. And I have to pay for my own therapy, I have to figure out what — I mean if there was anything, if there was any truth behind them actually caring, there would be something more than quotes on a page by obviously a legal representative telling them exactly how to tailor a response.”
The Boy Meets World stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle, who supported Brian Peck, came with a statement in their podcast regarding their letters. They claimed they were fed misinformation regarding the case. It led them to end up on the wrong side of the case.
On the other hand, X-Men producer Tom DeSanto admitted that his letter was also based on misinformation. However, The Hollywood Reporter states that Drake Bell did not forgive anybody and claimed that everybody wrote the letters thinking that they would be sealed forever.
