Drake Bell has reminded others that he “still has to live” with the trauma of his childhood abuse even though some have suggested to him that speaking out about it led to a career “comeback” for him.
Drake Bell has reminded others that he “still has to live” with the trauma of his childhood abuse even though it is now out in the open.
The 38-year-old actor revealed on the docuseries ‘Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV’ that he was he was sexually abused by dialect coach Brian Peck during his time on Nickelodeon between 1999 and 2000 and while it “helped” to get his story out there, it wasn’t really a career “comeback” as some have suggested to him.”
Speaking on ‘The Sarah Fraser Show’ podcast, he said: “[People say] ‘Is it this comeback?’ but it’s still something I live with every day. It did help, getting my story out and it’s really great having people come up to me and sharing their stories and how it helped them but still at the end of the day it’s not just because I put it in a documentary.
“It’s something I’ve got to live with for the rest of my life.”
The Discovery documentary featured a slew of former child stars from the late 1990s and early 2000s, who alleged instances of abuse and a toxic working environment at the hands of producer Dan Schneider.
Since the documentary aired, Drake has featured on ‘The Masked Singer’ and released ‘Non-Stop Flight’, his first album in four years.
In 2004, Peck pleaded no contest to a charge of oral copulation with a minor under 16 as well as a charge of performing a lewd act with a 14 or 15-year-old. Bell was the plaintiff but his identity as the victim was not made public at the time.
Peck spent 16 months in prison and was mandated to register as a sex offender.
Recalling the abuse, Drake said: “Brian and I became really close because we had a lot of the same interests, which looking back, I think that was probably a little calculated.”
Drake landed his first job on the network in 1999, when he joined the cast of ‘The Amanda Show’ alongside Amanda Bynes and later landed the comedy ‘Drake and Josh alongside Josh Peck (no relation), but Brian quickly became the teen star’s manager, and Drake would often spend the night at his house as he recalled waking up “in shock” one evening to find Brian, now 63, assaulting him.
Drake Bell reflects on Quiet On Set revelations: ‘I still have to live with it…’
