Drake Bell revealed on Wednesday that his former “Drake & Josh” costar Josh Peck “reached out” to “help me work through this” following the revelations of sexual abuse Bell endured being made public in the ID docuseries “Quiet on Set.”
Posting to TikTok, the 37-year-old actor urged fans of the Nickelodeon series to “take it a little easy” on Peck and that “processing this and going through this is a really emotional time.”
Bell disclosed for the first time in the four-part docuseries, which debuted on Sunday, that he was the unnamed minor who was abused by former dialogue coach and production assistant Brian Peck — who is not related to Josh Peck — more than 20 years ago.
The series, subtitled “The Dark Side of Kids TV,” largely discusses the toxic work environment fostered by the men at the top of such Nickelodeon series as “All That,” “The Amanda Show,” “Drake & Josh” and “Victorious.” One-time acclaimed writer and producer Dan Schneider is the main subject of the exposé.
Bell said that he was speaking up for costar Peck because he had seen some inflammatory comments on his TikTok in the aftermath of the show’s premiere.
“I just want to clear something up. I’ve noticed a lot of comments on some of Josh’s TikToks and some of his posts,” Bell said. “I just want to let you guys know that this is really … processing this and going through this is a really emotional time, and a lot of it is very, very difficult.”
The actor did not go into detail about his conversation with Peck, clarifying that “not everything is put out to the public,” but he did say Peck was a positive influence.
“I just want you guys to know that he has reached out to me, and it’s been very sensitive,” Bell said. “But he has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this and has been really, really great. So just wanted to let you guys know that and to take it a little easy on him.”
Watch the video post below.
Bell and Peck costarred as teenage stepbrothers on “Drake & Josh” after working together on “The Amanda Show.” The former series ran from 2004 to 2007.
Brian Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison after he was arrested in August 2003 on 11 sexual abuse charges related to the sexual abuse of an unnamed child. He was ordered to register as a sex offender in October 2004.
“Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” is now streaming on Max.
