Drake Bell has announced that his Drake and Josh Co-star Josh Peck has contacted him about his allegations of sexual abuse while working for Nickelodeon.
Bell receives support after recounting his alleged experiences in a new documentary series Peace on set: The dark side of children’s television.
The actor claimed that he was the victim of abuse by actor and dialogue coach Brian Peck at the age of 15. This allegation left Dan Schneider, the children’s channel’s executive producer at the time, “devastated”.
Peck has since been heavily criticized by fans for remaining silent on the issue, but Bell – the Boys Meets World Stars who have not apologized for their support of Brian Peck – has stepped in to deny that claim after noticing nasty messages being posted about his co-star on social media.
“I just want to clarify something,” he said in a new video shared online. “I’ve noticed a lot of comments on some of Josh’s TikToks and some of his posts and I just want to let you guys know that processing and getting through this situation is a very emotional time and a lot of it is very, very difficult.”
The actor continued: “So not everything is going to be made public, but I want you to know that he (Peck) reached out to me and that the matter was very sensitive.
“But he reached out to talk to me and help me work through this, and he’s been really, really great. I just wanted to let you guys know and ask you to please take it easy with him.”
In August 2003, Brian Peck, who is not related to Josh, was arrested on more than a dozen charges related to allegations of sexual abuse of an unnamed minor.
A year later, he pleaded guilty to committing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old and performing oral sex on a minor under the age of 16. Brian Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender in October 2004.
Peace on set: The dark side of children’s televisiona four-part documentary series examining the toxic working conditions on children’s television in the 1990s and early 2000s, which aired on March 17 and 18.
It can be streamed on Max and Discovery+.
