Speaking for the first time, Drake Bell has opened up about being repeatedly molested by dialogue coach Brian Peck on his time at Nickelodeon.
The announcement comes as part of Bell’s appearance in Investigation Discovery’s upcoming four-part docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
The latest uncovers the behind the scenes culture and dangerous environments of children’s TV shows in the late 1990s and even early 2000s. Many of the shows in discussion were produced by the infamous Dan Schneider.
“Brian and I became really close because we had a lot of the same interests, which looking back, I think that was probably a little calculated,” Bell, 37, says in the docuseries, which premieres across two nights on ID from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET/PT on March 17 and March 18.
Drake Bell first started acting at the age of 5 while his parents were going through a divorce. After mostly working on commercials and TV parts, the star landed a job on The Amanda Show in 1999. The next year, Bell met Brian Peck, a dialogue coach who befriended him and would invite him to his house for acting lessons.
Bell’s father admitted after some time with the production that he was uncomfortable with the acting coach around his son quite often.
The relationship between Peck and his son still didn’t sit well with Joe and when he mentioned it again he claims he was “ostracized” on set and “backed off.”
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Peck later became Bell’s manager, which caused a rift in the family.
Bell admitted that the lessons were at least an hour away from his residence at the time with his mother, and he would find himself spending the night at Peck’s house frequently.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I usually sleep and I woke up to him… I opened my eyes and I woke up and he was…he was sexually assaulting me,” Bell, who was 15 at the time, says. “And I froze, and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react.”
“You know anytime I had an audition or anytime I needed to work on dialogue or anything, I somehow ended up back at Brian’s house,” Bell continues. “And it just got worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and I was just trapped. I had no way out. The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal.”
Bell says the abuse happened more than once — and that he has never forgotten what happened to him.
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“I often look back at that time and wonder how in the world I survived,” he says. “I remember all of the abusive events, but everything outside of that is very blurry to me, which is a bummer because I experienced a lot of great things in my life and my career during this time. But it was so overshadowed and ruined by what I was dealing with on the inside that it made it really hard for me.”
In 2004, Peck pleaded no contest to a charge of oral copulation with a minor under 16 as well as a charge of performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year old.
Bell’s identity as the victim was not made public at the time. Peck spent 16 months in prison and was mandated to register as a sex offender.
Bell says that Schneider was not aware he was the victim until he confided in him.
Schneider left the network in 2018 and offered any way to support him possible, Bell admits.
Bell says he began to drink heavily and use drugs. (In 2021, Bell pleaded guilty to two charges stemming from online behavior with an underage fan and was sentenced to two years’ probation and community service.)
In a statement to People, Nickelodeon says, “Now that Drake Bell had disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.”
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, premieres across two nights on ID from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET/PT on March 17 and March 18.
