Nickelodeon dialogue and acting coach Brian Peck got into many controversies after he was arrested back in 2003 on 11 charges of s-xual abuse on a minor. While this minor was unnamed before, it recently came to light that the one abused was actually none other than the American actor cum musician, Drake Bell.
In a soon-to-be-released ID documentary on Nickelodeon, Bell got candid about all of the times he was s-xually assaulted by Peck. But that wasn’t all, one other critical revelation is also released in this documentary: Peck was actually friends with one of the most brutal American serial killers, John Wayne Gacy.
Drake Bell Gets Candid About Abuse at the Hands of Brian Peck
Drake Bell, the renowned actor who earned his breakthrough through the massively fan-favorite show Drake and Josh, came out on the upcoming Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV ID documentary as the minor who was physically abused by Brian Peck, the dialogue and acting coach on Nickelodeon.
As shared by Variety, the actor cum musician shared the truth about his story in the third episode of the documentary, revealing how he first met Peck during season 2 of The Amanda Show. He eventually went ahead to stay at Peck’s home in Los Angeles whenever he had an audition because he lived in Orange County.
Recounting the abuse he had to go through, Bell shared:
“I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep. I woke up to him — I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was s-xually assaulting me. I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react, and I had no idea how to get out of this situation.”
Since he was a minor — only fifteen — back then, all of it eventually “became this secret” because of how suspicious everyone would be if he stopped going to Peck’s house, with the dialogue coach reportedly being “so apologetic” and claiming it would never happen again. However, little did he know how worse his situation would get.
As Drake Bell continued to share, Peck convinced the 15-year-old child actor’s mother and everyone else to let him stay at his house during his auditions, which led to the situation getting “worse and worse and worse and worse.” If anything, it was a lot worse than what anyone could imagine, as Bell shared:
“I was just trapped. I had no way out. The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal. I don’t know how to elaborate on that on camera, really… Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a s-xual assault, and then I’ll answer your question. I don’t know how else to put it.”
All of this went on for a long time in a situation that Bell describes as “mental manipulation,” because the acting coach pretty much blackmailed him by manipulating him into believing he wouldn’t be able to work with producers that Peck was acquainted with if he refused to give in. But what was worse was the fact that Peck was even friends with serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
Brian Peck was Allegedly Friends with John Wayne Gacy
Everyone knows John Wayne Gacy for the inevitably barbaric person that he was. Not only was he branded as a serial killer with 33 counts of murders of young men and boys in Illinois, but he was also a s-x offender, accused of having r-ped and tortured people before killing them as well, even earning the title of the ‘Killer Clown’.
As Kyle Sullivan, who was one of Bell’s co-stars from The Amanda Show, recounts during the documentary (shared by Variety), Brian Peck was actually friends with Gacy. This came into light following a BBQ at Peck’s house, where he proudly showed the child actors a painting of a birthday clown with balloons, revealing that it was from Gacy with the message:
“Brian, I hope you enjoy the painting. Best wishes. Your friend, John Wayne Gacy.”
If that wasn’t enough, Peck further had photos and letters by Gacy on the nightstand in his bedroom that he reportedly showed to the kids without hesitation, almost as if he had become penpals with the serial killer cum s-x offender during the time he was in prison. All the people still giving him the benefit of the doubt made the situation comprehensively worse.
However, eventually, everything came to light by August 2003, after Drake Bell shared all the excruciatingly painful details during a full-blown investigation on the matter probed by his mother, as Brian Peck confessed to it all. Nonetheless, nothing changes the fact that Bell was inevitably scarred for life following such a brutal series of events.
The documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV will be released on ID at 9 p.m. on the 17th and 18th of March, 2024 (Sunday and Monday), and will be available to be streamed on Max.
