Investigation Discovery’s documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV looks into the unsettling claims made against Brian Peck, the former dialogue coach for Nickelodeon. The four-part series includes interviews with former cast and crew members who talk about the alleged abusive and toxic behavior that went on behind the scenes of their popular shows.
Among them is Drake Bell, star of Drake & Josh, who claims he was molested by Peck several times as a child. The documentary also revealed that Nickelodeon directors Beth and Rich Correll supported Peck in his legal battle against Bell.
However, in a recent statement to Variety, they offered an apology, stating that “no words” could adequately describe how terrible “we feel” for Bell’s trauma and for being on the “wrong side of a horrific situation”.
Beth and Rich Correll Offer an Apology for Drake Bell
No one who wrote a letter of support for his abuser (Brian Peck), according to Drake Bell, has privately apologized to him. The Drake & Josh actor spoke on The Sarah Fraser Show podcast for the first time since the premiere of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, a docuseries that describes the s*xual abuse he endured as a teenager while working for Nickelodeon.
The California-born actor-musician, 37, clarified:
“I haven’t gotten an apology, or a sorry, from anybody that had written letters, or was involved in supporting him at all. I learned that later, I mean, there were multiple people that had supported him that went on to work on Drake & Josh.”
After their letters supporting Peck’s lawsuit against Bell were revealed in a recent Investigation Discovery special, directors Rich and Beth Correll made an apology. In a statement provided exclusively to Variety, the Corrells said:
“We extend our deepest apologies to Drake Bell and his family, and we deeply regret our decision many years ago to request leniency for someone who we later learned had committed a horrible crime and caused so much pain and trauma to Drake and others. If we had known the truth at the time the letters were written, we never would have written them. There are no words to express how awful we feel for being on the wrong side of a horrific situation and the trauma it caused you, Drake.”
According to the documentary series, 41 celebrities—including James Marsden, Taran Killam, Will Friedle, Rider Strong, Joanna Kerns, and others—wrote letters supporting Brian Peck during his sentencing hearing for abusing a teenage Bell in the early 2000s (via EW).
Fans Response: Nickelodeon’s Attempts to Salvage Their Image?
By publicly apologizing to Drake Bell, the directors Beth and Rich Correll appear to have been trying desperately to save face, but, as viewers notice, the damage has already been done. Many quickly showed their support for The Amanda Show star and expressed their outrage at the abuse he had to endure.
Let’s see some of the fans’ views via X:
Little late for sorry
— Ayo T Adebayo (@FrequencyAyo) March 26, 2024
Glad they crossed that off their to-do list. Only took 20 years and being exposed to urge them along
— **** (@maverick152004) March 26, 2024
They’re saddened and appalled that they got caught/called out.
— Lee Pierce🇺🇸 (@LeePierceFilm) March 26, 2024
"We are saddened and appalled people found out what we did so now we are saying sorry"
— Zach (@realzwood) March 26, 2024
Oh NOW you apologize. 🙄
— J The K 🥨 (@jim_kow) March 26, 2024
Brian Peck was taken into custody on August 19, 2003, on suspicion of 11 counts, including lewd acts with a minor, according to a press release issued by the Los Angeles Police Department. Peck’s investigation, according to the LAPD at the time, started two weeks earlier after “the minor’s family reported that Peck had molested the child over a six-month period”.
Although they did not disclose the victim’s identity, Bell was eventually identified by the LAPD, who stated that the “lewd acts with the minor occurred approximately two years ago at Peck’s residence”.
In 2005, Peck was released from prison after completing his sentence. He was hired by Disney Channel a year later to work on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, which starred Dylan and Cole Sprouse. Variety reports that he voiced three episodes of the show but did not interact with the cast or crew while it was filming.
According to the outlet, Disney Channel replaced his voiceovers and fired him right away after learning of his conviction.
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV can be streamed on Max.
