Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell was featured on Episode 5 of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV Sunday to discuss how he’s been coping with the reactions to the docuseries after it began streaming last month.
In the fourth episode of the docuseries, Investigation Discovery chronicled how former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck pleaded no contest in 2003 to two charges of sexually abusing Bell. After a sentencing hearing in 2004, Peck served 16 months in prison and was required to register as a sex offender.
During Quiet on Set, Bell detailed how he was dumbfounded by the support the level of Hollywood support Peck got in the courtroom before his sentencing.
“His entire side of the courtroom was full — full,” Bell revealed during Episode 4 of the docuseries. “There were definitely some recognizable faces on that side of the room and my side was me, my mom and my brother. Brian had been convicted but getting all this support from a lot of people in the industry and I was pretty shocked.”
But the courtroom shock Bell experienced, as it turns out, was only part of the support Peck received from Hollywood. According to Deadline, Bell wasn’t aware of the 41 letters written by known celebrities in support of Peck until they were unearthed via an ID request for the court to unseal the letters.
The fifth episode — dubbed a “bonus” episode — featured an interview Bell did with veteran journalist Soledad O’Brien. She asked the former Amanda Show and Drake & Josh actor about his reaction to former Boy Meets World actors Rider Strong and Will Friedle supporting Peck during his court case.
Episode 5 also featured audio of Strong and Friedle expressing regret for their actions on their Pod Meets World podcast.
“I worked with Will on [the animated series Ultimate] Spider-Man and there was a lot of opportunity to apologize or talk about it and [we] never did,” Bell told O’Brien. “But also, it’s a very difficult subject to bring up. I mean, especially in a work environment. So, and that’s the thing that’s hard about this because everybody deals with their trauma in different ways. Everybody comes to different conclusions at different times in their lives and realizations … You know I really appreciate [his and Strong’s] perspective now.”
However, Bell added, the day in court where so many people turned out to support Peck is ingrained in his mind: “There’s so many people who, I mean, I haven’t heard — nobody’s reached out to me … not one of those people who wrote those letters has reached out to me,” Bell told O’Brien.
However, in the time after the taping of the fifth episode and when it was released on streaming Sunday, Bell posted on X that he and Strong talked.
“I just had the most amazing conversation with @RiderStrong we are all healing together. I have nothing but love and forgiveness for him,” Bell wrote in the post.
Bell Also Discussed Schneider’s Support
Drake Bell’s claims against Brian Peck were among the high-profile revelations in the four-part Investigation Discovery series that began streaming on ID and Max in mid-March. Not long after, ID said it was producing the bonus fifth episode of the series.
Former Nickelodeon producer and show creator Dan Schneider was also called out for his questionable behavior and the toxic culture during his time at Nickelodeon in Quiet on Set. He has since apologized.
Bell also told Soledad O’Brien during Sunday’s Quiet on Set bonus episode that it was perplexing to learn of the claims made against Schneider since the longtime Nickelodeon creator was the only person who offered support to him during his crisis.
“It was really hard to watch since I can only speak from my experience — and I can’t take away from anyone else’s experience,” Bell told O’Brien. “You know, I can just say that during this time with Brian, Dan was really the only one from the network that made an effort to help me and make sure I was okay.”
Bell also defended his former Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck — no relation to Brian Peck — and the way he’s was criticized online for not commenting about his friend’s allegations.
“He had reached out to me and we’ve been talking,” Bell told O’Brien. “This is a really difficult thing to process. But at the end of the day, you know, we have such a close connection and unique bond that’s so rare in this industry … It’s really special and he’s a really great person.”
