What happened to Drake Bell? The former child star of Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh details abuse by the show’s acting coach Brian Peck in a new docuseries – but has become controversial himself
- Drake Bell details shocking allegations of abuse during his time as a child star on the Nickelodeon show Drake and Josh in a new Investigation Discovery docuseries
- Despite his early career success in Hollywood, Bell filed for bankruptcy at US$1.6 million in debt in 2014 – and pleaded guilty to attempted child endangerment in 2021
Drake Bell is coming forward with shocking information about his experience as a child actor on the set of Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh TV show.
The former child actor details the abuse he suffered on producer Dan Schneider’s hit show for a new ID docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which is set to premiere on March 17, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Bell alleges horrifying experiences at the hands of Brian Peck, his dialogue and acting coach on the series, who he says sexually assaulted him. Per Billboard, at one point in the docuseries, Bell describes waking up on the sofa to Peck “sexually assaulting me. I froze and was in complete shock”. He added, “I had no idea what to do or how to react.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the four-part docuseries features multiple creatives and crew members who worked with Schneider making allegations of abuse, sexism and racism on the shows he was involved with at Nickelodeon.
Per the same source, Peck was arrested in 2003 for sexually abusing an unnamed child – who now appears to be Bell – and was found guilty on two counts, serving 16 months in prison. Before Peck was sentenced in 2004, several famous actors wrote letters of support for him, including James Marsden.
It’s not the first time Nickelodeon has faced scrutiny for its treatment of minors either: in 2022, Business Insider published an investigation outlining the bizarre environment that many former child actors faced on Schneider’s sets.
But who is Drake Bell exactly – and what are the controversies which have surrounded his life in recent years?