Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell is coming forward in the upcoming Investigation Discovery series “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” to allege he was a victim of Brian Peck‘s sexual abuse. Peck worked as a dialogue coach on Nickelodeon’s “All That” and “The Amanda Show,” the latter of which starred Bell from 1999 to 2002. Bell would go on to headline his own Nickelodeon series in 2004 with “Drake & Josh.”
Peck was arrested in August 2003 on more than a dozen charges related to sexual abuse allegations involving an unnamed minor. In May 2004, 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. (It remains unclear who these victims are and Bell has not yet specified the nature of the abuse he experienced, although he is likely to do so when “Quiet on Set” airs later this month). Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender in October 2004.
A clip from “Quiet on Set” teases Bell coming forward to discuss Peck. A press release from Investigation Discovery reads: “The clip reveals that 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, his former dialogue coach who was convicted in 2004 for his crimes against Drake and ordered to register as a sex offender.”
Variety has reached out to representatives for Peck and Bell for further comment.
Peck was recently in the news due to an episode of the “Pod Meets World” podcast in which “Boys Meets World” cast members Rider Strong and Will Friedle remembered working with Peck on the show. They had been asked for statements for the docuseries but wanted to speak about their experience instead on their podcast.
Peck guest starred on two episodes of “Boy Meets World” in Season 5 and became fast friends with Strong and Friedle. When Peck was accused of sexual abuse in 2003, he allegedly called Friedle and was crying while “instantly spinning it to where it wasn’t his fault, it was clearly the fault of his victim.”
Friedle admitted on the podcast that he believed Peck at first, adding: “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.”
Peck later asked Strong and Friedle to support him in court, which they did. Friedle remembered: “We’re sitting in that courtroom on the wrong side of everything … The victim’s mother turned and said, ‘Look at all the famous people you brought with you. And it doesn’t change what you did to my kid,’” Friedle explained. “I just sat there wanting to die. It was like, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ It was horrifying all the way around.”
“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” is a four-part docuseries revealing the toxic work conditions behind children’s shows in the 1990s and early 2000s — specifically those from Dan Schneider, the creator of beloved Nickelodeon shows such as “iCarly” and “Zoey 101.” The series airs March 17 and 18 on Investigation Discovery.