Former Nickelodeon co-stars Josh Peck, Nancy Sullivan respond to Drake Bell's 'Quiet on Set' revelations
"Quiet on Set" included claims about the environment on many popular TV shows.
Drake Bell's TV family members are rallying around the actor on social media after he revealed in the docuseries "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" that he had been sexually abused by former dialogue coach Brian Peck when he was a young Nickelodeon star.
Josh Peck, who played Bell's stepbrother on the hit television show "Drake & Josh," shared a statement on Instagram on Thursday saying that he reached out to Bell privately and that he was giving his support to others who were on Nickelodeon who also said they experienced sexual abuse and other types of abuse.
"I finished the Quiet on Set documentary and took a few days to process it," said Josh Peck, who is not related to Brian Peck. "I reached out to Drake privately, but want to give my support for the survivors who were brave enough to share their stories of emotional and physical abuse on Nickelodeon sets with the world."
"Children should be protected," he continued. "Reliving this publicly is incredibly difficult, but I hope it can bring healing for the victims and their families as well as necessary change to our industry."
On Wednesday, Bell took to TikTok to confirm that Josh Peck had reached out to him.
"I just wanted to clear something up," Bell wrote. "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 this is really -- processing this and going through this is a really emotional time and a lot of it is very very difficult."
"So not everything is put out to the public, but I just want you guys to know that he has reached out to me and it's been very sensitive but he has reached out to talk to me and help me work through this and it's been really really great so I just want to let you guys know that and to take it a little easy on him," he added.
Another "Drake & Josh" co-star who is responding to the "Quiet on Set" docuseries is Nancy Sullivan, who played Bell's mother Audrey Parker-Nichols on the show.
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"They weren't my real kids, but I'll always love them," she wrote in an Instagram post. "It broke my heart into a million pieces to hear just how much Drake was holding inside while we were working together. I was both devastated and proud seeing the man he's grown into sit down on camera and bravely tell his truth."
"Past abuse doesn't define us, and it has no right to rule our lives, I know that putting this burden down will free him in so many ways," Sullivan continued. "I hope memories of the joy he had on our shows will someday greatly overshadow the pain. Sending love to Drake for a deep healing and for a rich and beautiful life ahead."
"Quiet on Set," a four-part docuseries from Investigation Discovery, was released on Max earlier this week (the two networks share the same parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery). The series focuses on what some claim went on behind the scenes at some of the most popular Nickelodeon children's shows of the 1990s and early 2000s.
It includes interviews with former child stars on shows such as "All That" and "The Amanda Show" and explores claims about television creator Dan Schneider fostering a toxic work environment.
Schneider responded to many of the allegations in the docuseries earlier this week during an interview with former "iCarly" actor BooG!e, which was shared on Schneider's YouTube page. In it, Schneider apologized for making any writers feel "uncomfortable" in the writers room and said in response to alleged pay discrepancy claims that he had "nothing to do with paying writers." He also claimed the jokes called out in the docuseries were "written for a kid audience" and said some of the dares in "SNICK On Air Dares," a segment he created with the "All That" cast, "went too far."
In addition to the alleged pay discrepancy that was addressed on the show between some men and women writers, as well as Schneider's use of inappropriate jokes in the writers room and in scenes on some Nickelodeon shows, one of the biggest revelations that came to light in the docuseries was that Bell, who also appeared on "All That" and "The Amanda Show" before starring on "Drake & Josh" from 2004 to 2007, said that he was the "John Doe" minor in the 2003 child sexual abuse case against Brian Peck.
Brian Peck was arrested in 2003 and charged with 11 counts including "lewd acts with a child" and sexual abuse of a minor. He pleaded guilty to two of the counts and was sentenced to 16 months in prison. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender.
Bell said the abuse he experienced put him on a path of self-destruction, including drinking and substance abuse. In recent years, Bell has had two convictions for driving under the influence and a child endangerment conviction in 2021 for inappropriate online activity with a minor.
Schneider said in his interview with BooG!e that he spoke to Bell and called the incident "the darkest part of my career."
"I told him, 'I'm here for you. What do you need?' Which Drake mentioned in the show," Schneider said.
He added that he was "devastated by that, more than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far."
In a statement last week, Nickelodeon said it was "dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma [Bell] has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward."
In response to claims of hostile workplace environments, Nickelodeon told ABC News that while it "cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct," adding that it has "adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to own high standards and the expectations of our audience."
"GMA" has reached out to Josh Peck, Bell and Sullivan for additional comment.
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