Melissa Joan Hart shows support for her former Nickelodeon Colleagues amid the publication of “Peace on set: The dark side of children’s televisiona documentary series by Investigation Discovery in which Drake Bell, known from “Drake & Josh”, claims that he was sexually abused as a teenager by a Nickelodeon dialect coach.
Hart became famous as a Nickelodeon child star and is still best known for “Clarissa explains everything“ and ABC’s “Sabrina – Totally Bewitched!.“ Her appearance on Thursday in the podcast “Meghan McCain has joined the chat“ makes her the youngest former Nickelodeon customer to speak out.
“Nobody came to me and talked to me about these situations,” she said McCain“And that’s not to say anything about anyone’s story – I trust them absolutely, believe them 100 percent – but my experience is that I was in Orlando from 1989 to 1993 or 1994.”
Hart was 14 when she landed the lead role in “Clarissa” and spent the next four years filming the sitcom while preparing for college. The actress told McCain she had a “wonderful” experience on set.
However, other former stars have said their experiences at the network were quite different. Bell claimed in “Quiet on Set” that Nickelodeon dialect coach Brian Peck sexually abused him during the production of “Drake & Josh” in Los Angeles. Several network alumnae havespoke out in support by Bell.
“I think there was maybe a difference between Hollywood Nickelodeon and Orlando Nickelodeon,” Hart told McCain, referring to the network’s production studio in Florida.
“It was just wonderful in Orlando,” Hart added. “We were in Florida, a right-to-work state, so they made the kids work a lot harder than they probably should legally – but we had a lot of fun. It was just long hours, that’s all.”
According to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail in 2015, Peck was charged with child molestation in 2004 and pleaded guilty. He was reportedly convicted of sexual battery on a child and oral sex on a person under 16 and spent 16 months in prison.
“I don’t know other people’s experiences and I’m not negating anything anyone else says,” Hart told McCain. “These people’s stories were never told to me… and I have to say, I’ve never personally heard a story from a Nickelodeon star.”
“I’ve been trying to figure out how to address it on social media, but I haven’t seen the documentary and I think that’s a mistake,” she added. “I need to watch the documentary. I’ve been meaning to, but at night when I go to bed… I’m like, ‘Uh, Friends.'”
Hart told McCain that “not all the eggs in the Nickelodeon basket are rotten,” adding that “there were some good eggs” who “really took care of her” during her teenage years as a Nickelodeon star.
“To be honest,” she said, “some of them are still my very best friends.”
Last week, Bell criticized Nickelodeon for its “empty” response to “Quiet on Set” after the network issued a statement about its “commitment to promoting a safe and professional work environment.” Bell also confirmed that his 2005 song “In the End” was about the abuse he suffered as a teenager.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National online hotline for sexual assault cases or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center website.
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