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Nickelodeon is speaking out following details of sexual assault and abuse revealed by one-time Drake & Josh star Drake Bell by dialogue coach Brian Peck when Bell was a child.
Bell detailed the abuse in the third episode of Investigation Discovery‘s upcoming four-part docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which will air over two nights, March 17 and 18.
Peck was arrested in 2003 on eleven charges, including sodomy, lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older, and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance, but the minor was never named. Now, in the docuseries, Bell reveals he was the minor. The abuse occurred during Bell’s time on The Amanda Show from 1999-2002.
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. He spent 16 months in prison and was required to register as a sex offender.
Nickelodeon released the following statement in response to Bell’s account. “Now that Drake Bell has 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.”
Spending time at Peck’s home wasn’t out of the ordinary for the Nickelodeon kids, including Bell. “All the parents loved him too. Everyone trusted Brian,” said Kyle Sullivan, who appeared on The Amanda Show and All That.
Bell said he considered Peck, who later became his manager, as a friend, but everything changed one morning at Peck’s home.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep. I woke up to him — I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me,” Bell described in the docuseries. “I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react, and I have no idea how to get out of this situation,” Bell said. The actor was 15 at the time and didn’t know what to do. He said it “became this secret” because questions would be raised if he stopped going to Peck’s home. Peck was “so apologetic”, Bell said, and promised it would not happen again.
“He figured out how to convince my mom and everyone around to, anytime I would have an audition or anytime I needed to work on dialogue or anything, I somehow ended up back at Brian’s house and it just got worse and worse and worse and worse. I was just trapped. I had no way out,” said Bell. “The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal. I don’t know how to elaborate on that on camera, really… Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault, and then I’ll answer your question. I don’t know how else to put it.”
Nickelodeon also released a statement regarding alleged behaviors on past production sets.
“Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct, the statement read. “Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”
Bell says in the docuseries that Schneider was not aware of the abuse Bell had been suffering at the hands of Peck until Bell confided in him and Schneider offered to support him in any way he could.
Nickelodeon parted ways with Schneider in 2018 after multiple complaints of abusive behavior from members of his staff.
Quiet on Set is directed by Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz and produced by Maxine Productions and Sony Pictures Television – Nonfiction in association with Business Insider.
