Summary

Former child star Drake Bell opens up about being sexually abused by dialogue coach Brian Peck.
Investigation Discovery docuseries ”
Quiet on Set
” exposes toxic culture of iconic kids TV shows.
Peck, previously convicted of sexual abuse, has former colleagues on 90s TV series speaking out.

Former child actor Drake Bell has revealed he was a child victim of sexual abuse at the hands of former dialogue coach Brian Peck. Peck worked on Nickelodeon’s All That and The Amanda Show; Bell starred on The Amanda Show from 1999 to 2002 before leading the network’s Drake & Josh from 2004 to 2007. Bell will speak out about the abuse, which occurred when he was 15, in the upcoming Investigation Discovery docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

Although Peck was arrested in 2003 on 11 charges related to allegations of child sexual abuse, it was previously unknown that Bell was the victim. According to Business Insider, Peck “pleaded no contest to performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old and to oral copulation with a minor under 16.” He was sentenced to 16 months and mandated to register as a sex offender.

Related Drake Bell’s Recent ‘Missing’ Status Explained by 911 Call Audio According to a 911 call audio, Drake Bell has been threatening self-harm, prompting Florida police to declare him “missing and endagered.”

Quiet on Set is a four-part series that uncovers the toxic culture behind some of the most iconic children’s shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s and features interviews with former child stars and crew members of those shows. The docuseries “pulls back the curtain on an empire, built by creator Dan Schneider, that had an undeniable grip on popular culture.”

Schneider, who is the founder and co-president of the production company Schneider’s Bakery, has played a part (helping to create, write, or produce) on numerous comedy series, including Nickelodeon’s All That, Drake & Josh, Kenan & Kel, The Amanda Show, Victorious, Zoey 101,iCarly, and the film Good Burger. Nickelodeon parted ways with Schneider in 2018 as a result of misconduct allegations.

Boy Meets World Alums Discuss Brian Peck

Last month, during an episode of their Pod Meets World podcast, Boy Meets World alums Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, and Rider Strong spoke out regarding Peck (who appeared on the series during its fifth season). Friedle recalled becoming friendly with Peck, saying he presented as a “great, funny guy” and that he “hung out with him every day, talked to him every day.”

Once the child sexual abuse allegations against Peck came to light, Friedle recalled Peck claiming he was a victim of “jailbait”:

“He didn’t say that nothing had happened. So by the time we heard about this case and knew anything about it, it was always in the context of, ‘I did this thing, I am guilty. I am going to take whatever punishment the government determines, but I’m a victim of jailbait. There was this hot guy! I just did this thing and he’s underage.’ And we bought that storyline. I never heard about the other things because, back then, you couldn’t Google to find out what people were being charged with. So in retrospect, he was making a plea deal and admitting one thing, which is all he admitted to us, but it looks like he was being charged with a series of crimes, which we did not know.”

Bell began acting in the early 1990s, making his first television appearance on Home Improvement. Besides starring in The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh, he is known for starring in The Fairly OddParents movies and voicing Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man. His last acting credit was in 2021’s Robot Chicken.

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV
will air on ID on March 17 and 18. The series is directed by Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz and produced by Maxine Productions and Sony Pictures Television—Nonfiction in association with Business Insider.

Check out a sneak peek featuring Bell below.