Last month, Drake revealed that Josh had reached out to him “privately” to show his support after he opened up about his experiences of abuse as a child star.
Drake Bell talks about the gentle way Josh Peck privately expressed his support following the sexual abuse revelations.
In Tuesday’s episode of Not thin, but not fat either Podcast, 37-year-old Drake spoke about his recent revelations about sexual abuse as a 15-year-old child actor by Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck (to whom Josh is not related) in Peace on set: The dark side of children’s television.
Initially, Drake and Josh Fans begged 37-year-old Josh to make a public statement, but Drake later revealed the How I met your father Star contacted him privately.
Related: Drake Bell asks fans to ‘take it easy’ with Josh Peck and reveals he ‘reached out to him’ amid abuse allegations
“He reached out to me privately and didn’t go directly to the media because, you know, he was with me and saw what I was going through,” Drake explained on the podcast, noting that Josh didn’t know the “details” of his abuse but suspected something was wrong.
“I think knowing how sensitive this was for me, and obviously after seeing the documentary, he learned so much about what I had been through,” Drake continued. “I think he was just so sensitive and reached out to me privately rather than reaching out directly through social media or anything like that.”
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(L) Drake Bell and Josh Peck
In 2004, Brian pleaded no contest to charges related to Drake’s case of performing oral sex on a minor under 16 and lewd acts with a teenager. Drake’s identity as the victim was not made public because he was a minor at the time. Brian spent 16 months in prison and was required to register as a sex offender.
Although court documents detailing the extent of Drake’s abuse were kept under seal at the time, the “Found a Way” singer recalled that the “courtroom was packed because of Brian” and said that Hollywood was like a “small” town where there was a lot of “talk.”
He added: “There were people I worked with and confided in. So it was definitely known that I was going through a lot.”
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(L) Drake Bell and Josh Peck on “Drake and Josh”
Related: Drake Bell’s Drake and Josh TV mother Nancy Sullivan expresses her support in the face of abuse allegations: “It broke my heart”
Josh eventually released a statement on Instagram expressing his support not only to Drake, but also to the other alleged victims who had come forward with their experiences of abuse.
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“I have the Peace on set “I watched the documentary and it took me a few days to process it,” he wrote at the time. “I have reached out to Drake privately, but I want to express my support to the survivors who were brave enough to share their stories of emotional and physical abuse on Nickelodeon sets with the world.”
“Children must be protected,” he continued. “Re-living this publicly is incredibly difficult, but I hope it can bring healing to the victims and their families and bring about needed change in our industry.”
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