[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Drake Bell has come forward as a victim of sexual abuse — and it’s at the alleged hands of a former Nickelodeon staffer!
An upcoming new Investigation Discovery documentary is set to delve into the alleged crimes of a Nick dialogue coach, Brian Peck, with the All That star speaking out for the first time. A description of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV revealed:
“Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell will be sharing publicly, for the first time, the story of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Brian Peck.”
Whoa. Brian reportedly worked as a dialogue coach on All That and The Amanda Show, on which Drake starred from 1999 to 2002 before headlining his own series.
Related: OTH‘s Bethany Joy Lenz Reveals Name Of Cult That Took ‘Millions’ From Her!
For those who don’t know, Brian has already been found guilty of sexual abuse. Back in 2003 — just one year before the former child star would go on to do Drake & Josh — the dialogue coach was arrested on charges of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under 16. The next year, he was convicted of sexually abusing an unnamed Nick child actor and sentenced to 16 months in jail. According to the press release, the Found a Way crooner was the victim in the case, but he’s kept his identity private until now.
Many people involved with the channel at the time didn’t even know the full story. All That actor Bryan Hearne said in the trailer:
“To hear that Brian Peck was a sexual predator, it made me wonder immediately about who was being hurt.”
Giovonnie Samuels, also from All That, expressed equal shock, saying:
“Who it is, when it happened, where it happened, I have no idea.”
Then the 37-year-old actor and musician was seen walking into a dimly lit room and sitting down in front of cameras, as if ready to finally share his side of the story. He did not disclose any details yet, but the docuseries is set to premiere on March 17. See the shocking first look (below):
It’s certainly inneresting timing considering Bell faced his own child endangerment charges in 2021 when he pleaded guilty to sending “inappropriate social media messages” to a 15-year-old girl he met online. He has seemingly struggled with his mental health since dealing with public scrutiny following the case, and it couldn’t have been easy re-living this trauma amid all that.
But, FWIW, he is not the only one speaking out about the problematic 63-year-old. Just last month, Will Friedle and Rider Strong opened up about their painful past with the man, who was a guest star on Boy Meets World. On their podcast Pod Meets World, they each recalled how they formed close relationships with the much older actor and even agreed to support him in court when he was accused of sexual abuse. Will had instant regrets over that decision. He said it felt like sitting on “the wrong side of everything,” and added:
“The victim’s mother turned and said, ‘look at all the famous people you brought with you, and it doesn’t change what you did to my kid.’ I just sat there wanting to die.”
Will emotionally added at the time:
“There’s an actual victim here. And he turned us against the victim to where now we’re on his team. That’s the thing where, to me, I look back at that as my ever-loving shame for this entire [thing]. Getting taken in by somebody who’s a good actor and a manipulator, I could chalk that up to being young and that’s the way it is. It’s awful. I’m going to use that for my growth as a human being, but when there’s an actual victim involved and now I’m on the abuser’s side, that’s the thing I can’t get over and haven’t been able to get over.”
It’s unclear if they’ll take part in the documentary, but it’s all so awful. And it’s horrifying to learn how many sexual predators and creeps manage to work in children’s entertainment! So sad, but we hope speaking up will help Drake heal from this sexual violence.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Investigation Discovery/YouTube]
