As part of an upcoming documentary series about ’90s children’s television and the dangerous working conditions many young actors suffered through on those shows, former child star Drake Bell has spoken publicly about sexual abuse he endured while working for kids TV giant Nickelodeon.
Bell made the admission as part of the upcoming television series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which debuts this weekend on ID. Bell, who started acting at the age of 5, says that he was repeatedly assaulted by Brian Peck, a dialogue coach who worked for Nickelodeon.
“You know anytime I had an audition or anytime I needed to work on dialogue or anything, I somehow ended up back at Brian’s house,” Bell says in the series. “And it just got worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and I was just trapped. I had no way out. The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal.”
Now 37 years old, Bell was one of Nickelodeon’s biggest teen stars in this era. He was a cast member on The Amanda Show, and then he and co-star Josh Peck were given their own Nick series, Drake & Josh, which ran for four seasons and 56 episodes on the channel. Bell met Peck while working on the second season of The Amanda Show.
READ MORE: There Is Now an Entire Channel Dedicated to ’90s Nickelodeon
Although Bell’s own father apparently voiced concerns about Brian Peck (no relation to Bell’s TV co-star), the latter eventually became Bell’s manager. Bell began spending more and more time at Peck’s house, and away from his family. That’s when, he says, the abuse began.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I usually sleep and I woke up to him… I opened my eyes and I woke up and he was … he was sexually assaulting me,” says Bell in the series. “And I froze, and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react.”
Bell says he was 15 years old at the time of this incident.
In 2004, Peck ultimately pled no contest to two charges of child sexual abuse and was sentenced to 16 months in prison and forced to register as a sex offender. Bell’s connection to that case was never made public; in a statement to People Magazine, a Nickelodeon spokesperson said…
Now that Drake Bell had disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.
Bell has his own run-ins with the law in recent years. He has been arrested for driving under the influence, and in 2021 he pled guilty in a case involving his sending online messages to an underage fan. Last year, Bell briefly went missing and was considered “endangered” for a short time. (Bell later blamed the incident on his leaving his phone in his car.)
The first episode of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV premieres on March 17 at 9PM ET on Investigation Discovery. The miniseries consists of four episodes, with two episodes on March 17 and the other two hours premiering the next night at the same time.