Drake Bell, who was well-known for his role on the Nickelodeon show ‘Drake & Josh’, is finally breaking his silence and exposing his dialogue coach as a sexual predator in an upcoming Investigation Discovery series.
A description for a sneak peek of the show, titled “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” released Tuesday states, “Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell will be sharing publicly, for the first time, the story of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Brian Peck.
“To hear that Brian Peck was a sexual predator, it made me wonder immediately about who was being hurt,” “All That” actor Bryan Hearne says in the clip.
Former Nickelodeon star Giovonnie Samuels then adds, “Who it is, when it happened, where it happened, I have no idea.”
Bell, 37, then walks into a dimly lit room and stares as if ready to finally share his side of the story. The exact details of his abuse have not yet been disclosed.
“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” is set to premiere on March 17 and 18.
Peck, who was a former filmmaker, worked on Nickelodeon’s “The Amanda Show” a series in which Bell starred.
In 2003, Peck, who is now 63, was arrested by authorities on charges of lewd acts against a child and oral copulation of a person under 16. The following year, he was convicted on charges of sexually abusing a minor that was a Nickelodeon child actor and received a 16 month jail sentence.
It was revealed later that Bell was reportedly the child involved in the case. The former child star went on to star in “Drake & Josh” from 2004 to 2007, trying to the put the abuse past him and move on with life.
“Boy Meets World” alum Will Friedle recently spoke out about how he was allegedly “groomed” by Peck and talked about the close relationship he once fostered with the convicted felon.
“I didn’t really go to parties. I didn’t really do that stuff. But I was working a lot after ‘Boy Meets World,’ and this guy had so ingratiated himself into my life, I took him to three shows after ‘Boy Meets World,’” the actor, known for his role as Eric Matthews, said on an episode of “Pod Meets World” in February.
“This was the type of thing where the person he presented was this great, funny guy who was really good at his job, and you wanted to hang out with you. I saw him every day, hung out with him every day, talked to him every day.”
His co-star Rider Strong, who played Shawn Hunter in the hit sitcom, shared that he, too, hung out with Peck all the time despite their 20-year age gap.
When Peck was accused of sexual abuse, both actors were surprised and agreed to support him in court.
“We’re sitting in that courtroom on the wrong side of everything,” Friedle said. “The victim’s mother turned and said, ‘Look at all the famous people you brought with you. And it doesn’t change what you did to my kid.’ I just sat there wanting to die.”
“There’s an actual victim here. And he turned us against the victim to where now we’re on his team. That’s the thing where, to me, I look back at that as my ever-loving shame for this entire thing,” Friedle added.
It’s not clear what prompted Bell to finally step forward and expose Peck and the horror that he claims to have gone through in the past. However, Bell has also had to face his own sexual misconduct claims in the past too.
In 2021, he pleaded guilty to a child endangerment charge after prosecutors found he once sent “inappropriate social media messages” to a 15-year-old girl he had met online.
Bell has been ridiculed online over the allegations and struggled with substance abuse amid the turmoil.
