Drake Bell claims sexual abuse at Nickelodeon by convicted sex offender
Drake Bell appeared in a new teaser clip for the “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” docuseries as an alleged victim of Brian Peck.
The former Nickelodeon star was only featured for a few seconds toward the end of the trailer, which highlighted fellow network stars curious to see “who was being hurt” by Peck.
“Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell will be sharing publicly, for the first time, the story of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Brian Peck,” the clip was captioned.
‘BOY MEETS WORLD’ ACTORS FELT ‘SHAME’ OVER MANIPULATIVE FRIENDSHIP WITH CONVICTED CHILD ABUSER
Drake Bell appears in “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” documentary (Christopher Polk)
Peck served as a dialogue coach at Nickelodeon, both for “All That” and “The Amanda Show,” which Bell starred on from 1999-2002.
Bell later received his own series with the network and starred on “Drake & Josh” from 2004-07.
Peck was accused of molesting a child in 2003 and was later charged with eight counts of sexual abuse. Peck was convicted of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under the age of 16 and spent 16 months in prison.
He was also required to register as a sex offender in October 2004.
Representatives for Bell and Peck did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Allegations against Peck recently came to light during an episode of “Pod Meets World” when Will Friedle and Rider Strong addressed complicated feelings toward Peck, who became their friend while he worked as a stand-in on “Boy Meets World.”
Brian Peck was convicted of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under 16 in 2003. He spent 16 months in prison. (Albert L. Ortega)
Friedle, Strong and co-star Danielle Fishel decided to bring Peck’s name to the table after being contacted for a statement about Peck, likely due to the upcoming “Quiet on Set” ID docuseries detailing child abuse that allegedly took place behind the scenes on several Nickelodeon shows.
“There’s no way I could have been manipulated like this because I was an adult,” Friedle said. “By the time I had heard what had happened, I had known this man for years and years, had no idea that any of this was going on, obviously, and the idea that now at 24 or whatever I was, 24 or 25 when I found out about it — that I didn’t know, couldn’t spot it — that was a failure of my own.”
Peck, who was in his 40s at the time, only appeared in two episodes of the teenage sitcom — which ran from 1993-2000 on ABC — but quickly befriended both Friedle and Strong.
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Long after the show had ended, Friedle remembered Peck had called him crying when the sexual abuse allegations surfaced. Friedle recalled Peck spinning the story to show how it was “clearly the fault of his victim.”
“My instinct initially was, ‘My friend, this can’t be. It’s gotta be the other person’s fault.’ The story makes complete sense the way that he’s saying it,” he said.
Will Friedle and Rider Strong discussed the challenging emotions surrounding their friendship with convicted child abuser Brian Peck. (Getty Images)
Strong remembered Peck admitting to the crime, but spinning the assault so that it appeared as though Peck was the victim.
“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,” Strong said.
Peck also asked Strong and Friedle to stand by him in court and write letters to the judge in support of Peck. Friedle remembered one victim’s mother telling the court, “Look at all the famous people you brought with you. And it doesn’t change what you did to my kid.”
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Friedle has not seen Peck in 20 years, but still has remorse for what he experienced as a bystander in Peck’s life.
Rider Strong (L) and Will Friedle starred on “Boy Meets World” from 1993-2000. (Ron Gallela)
“There’s an actual victim here. And he turned us against the victim to where now we’re on his team,” Friedle said. “That’s the thing where, to me, I look back at that as my ever-loving shame for this entire [thing]. Getting taken in by somebody who’s a good actor and a manipulator, I could chalk that up to being young and that’s the way it is. It’s awful.
“I’m going to use that for my growth as a human being, but when there’s an actual victim involved, and now I’m on the abuser’s side, that’s the thing I can’t get over and haven’t been able to get over.”
