Drake Bell opened up about the road to finally agreeing to tell his story on Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
On the ID’s docuseries, the actor, who was the star of Drake and Josh, revealed all sorts of mishaps and sexual abuse from Brian Peck that occurred during his time at Nickelodeon. It had damaging effects on the actor, his parents, and his entire family.
THR reports that he discussed how cautious he was before deciding to be on the docuseries with the podcast The Sarah Fraser Show.
On the show, Bell said, “They said that people like me were the problem, and this is why things aren’t gonna change in the industry because people like you won’t speak out and won’t come forward. It was just all this shaming of me not wanting to be part of their documentary. So I’ve always been cautious and on-edge whenever approached to talk about such a sensitive topic.”
Emma Schwartz, one of the directors of Quiet On Set, eventually eased him into telling his story.
“She was very sensitive, and we kind of became buddies before [I agreed to participate],” Bell admitted. “I could tell that she was coming from a genuine place when we started our back-and-forth, and it wasn’t of an angle of, ‘OK, what do I have to say to get him involved? And I’ll just say what I have to say to convince him.’ I really felt a comfort with her. And so I said, ‘You know if you’re willing to come out to L.A. and sit down, at least I’ll meet with you.'”
Bell’s Nickelodeon response
We reported on Nickelodeon’s response to Drake Bell’s statements on the docuseries. It wasn’t exactly what the actor was hoping for.
Nickelodeon said in part of their statement, “Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon investigates all formal complaints as a matter of policy as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct.”
They also added that they were “dismayed and saddened” that Bell was the anonymous accuser in 2004 and appreciated “the strength required to come forward” from the actor.
Bell said on the podcast, “It was a very well-tailored response saying, ‘Learning about his trauma,’ because they couldn’t say that they didn’t know about this or what had happened, or anything. So I think that was a really well-tailored response by probably some big attorney in Hollywood.”
He added, “I find it pretty empty, their responses, because, I mean, they still show our shows, they still put our shows on. And I have to pay for my own therapy…If there was anything, if there was any truth behind them actually caring, there would be something more than quotes on a page by obviously a legal representative telling them exactly how to tailor a response.”
Catch the full interview with Drake Bell on The Sarah Fraser Show. You can also watch Quiet On Set on ID and stream it on Max.