Drake Bell Addresses Josh Peck Rumor

Drake Bell cleared up a rumor on Sunday that his former co-star was related to the man convicted of sexually assaulting him when he was a teenager.

Bell starred alongside Josh Peck on the hit Nickelodeon series, Drake & Josh, in the early 2000s and recently revealed for the first time in a docuseries called Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV that he was molested by on-set dialogue coach Brian Peck. Bell also rose to fame on the Nickelodeon series, The Amanda Show.

The four-part docuseries revealed the sinister side of children’s television whose success at the turn of the century was spearheaded by producer and writer, Dan Schneider, who he himself was accused of fostering a culture of bullying and misogynistic behavior in the series. It also revealed child sex abuse committed by production assistant Jason Handy and studio freelancer Ezel Channel.

Bell appeared on the Mexican podcast La Entrevista Con Yordi Rosado (The Interview with Yordi Rosado) where he discussed the aftermath of telling his story on the docuseries.

During the interview, Bell clarified Josh Peck was not related to Brian Peck, despite sharing the same surname. He began by explaining Brian’s role at Nickelodeon and how he first met him while working on The Amanda Show.

“They’re there to help you run lines or memorize your dialogue, or if you have something to do that can act as a stand-in,” Bell explained. “And he came onto the show—no relation to Josh Peck because I know that gets a little confusing.”

Bell went on to explain Brian arrived at Nickelodeon with great connections in Hollywood and “got along with everyone really well.”

“But then he really started integrating himself into my life and created a wedge between my dad and I,” Bell said and discussed at length many of the same incidents he had raised in the docuseries.

Bell was not publicly identified as Brian’s victim when he faced court in 2004 where he pleaded no contest to charges of oral copulation with a minor under 16 and performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old. He was jailed for 16 months and legally required to register as a sex offender.

The docuseries also revealed a number of powerful people in Hollywood wrote character references for Brian in hopes of reducing his sentence including actors James Marsden and the late Alan Thicke from the TV show, Growing Pains.

After he was released from jail, Brian was hired to work on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody at the Disney Channel, but was terminated after it learned of his conviction, per Variety.

Nickelodeon is a cable TV channel that was founded in 1977 and catered to an audience made up of children and teens. Some of its other big shows have included, Zoey 101 and iCarly. It has been the launching pad of many famous faces, including Amanda Bynes, Ariana Grande and Jamie-Lynn Spears

Nickelodeon previously told Newsweek that it was “dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma” Bell has endured following the abuse “and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.”

Bell slammed that response saying it was “well-tailored…because they couldn’t say that they didn’t know about this or know what had happened, or anything.” Bell made the comments during an interview on The Sarah Fraser Show podcast released on Friday.

Bell has faced his share of troubles since leaving Nickelodeon including alcoholism and filing for bankruptcy.

He was sentenced to two years’ probation in 2021 for an inappropriate “relationship” with a 15-year-old girl who claimed he started grooming her when she was 12, sent her sexually suggestive pictures—including ones of his genitalia— when she was 15, and sexually abused her.

In her victim impact statement she described Bell as “calculating.”

“He preyed on me and sexually abused me…He is a monster and a danger to children,” the victim added.

He pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempted child endangerment and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.

Bell addressed the incident during the docuseries.

“I took responsibility for that. I did what was asked of me, but the media grabbed a hold of so much misinformation, and it absolutely destroyed me,” Bell said of the attempted child endangerment case in the docuseries. “And I started to spin out of control. If I had continued down that path, that could very likely be the end of my story.”