Current:Home > InvestJohnathan Walker:Drake Bell Shares He Was Sexually Abused at 15 -GrowthInsight
Johnathan Walker:Drake Bell Shares He Was Sexually Abused at 15
Indexbit View
Date:2025-04-10 16:22:10
Content warning: this story discusses sexual assault.
Drake Bell is opening up about a harrowing time.
The Johnathan WalkerNickelodeon alum has come forward as the unnamed minor involved in the 2004 sexual assault conviction of Brian Peck, who was hired as an acting and dialogue coach for season two of the network's All That.
Bell shared his story in a new Investigation Discovery documentary titled Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, much of which is focused on the difficult working conditions under Dan Schneider, who worked on Nickelodeon shows including All That as well as The Amanda Show, Zoey 101, iCarly and Victorious.
In the documentary, per Today, Bell shares that the abuse occurred at Peck's home over the course of several months after the acting coach ingratiated himself into the teenaged actor's life by way of turning Bell against his father, who apparently expressed his concerns about Peck to the network.
"I think Brian got a sense that my dad was on the watch," Bell explained, noting Peck expressed worries Bell's father wasn't good for his career. "And so he started to really drive a wedge between my dad and me."
Soon after, Peck allegedly turned Bell's mother against her ex-husband as well, which resulted in Peck being the one to drive a then-teenage Bell to and from auditions and sets.
According to the Drake and Josh alum, this meant that Bell often spent the night at Peck's house, as the distance back to his Orange County home was too far for certain late nights.
"Everything changed with Brian one morning," Bell said. "I knew that my life was going to be absolutely, completely different from that point on."
"I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep and I woke up to him...I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me," he remembered. "And I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react."
The 37-year-old, per Today, goes on to share how the abuse went on for months—during which time Bell felt "trapped" and as though he had "no way out"—until one day he was on the phone with his mother and "just exploded."
"I have no idea what provoked it," he noted. "I have no idea what happened. But I just screamed into the phone everything that had been happening to me."
His mother subsequently called the police and in August 2003, Peck was arrested. Peck pleaded no contest to two charges that included lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older and oral copulation of a person under 16, according to court documents viewed by E! News.
The now 63-year-old ultimately served over a year in prison, in addition to being made to register as a sex offender.
E! News has reached out to Peck and Nickelodeon for comment but has not yet heard back, however Nickelodeon did share a statement with NBC News.
"Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case," the network said, "we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward."
In terms of the allegations against Schneider addressed in the documentary, a spokesperson for the 58-year-old previously told E! News Schneider cared about the welfare of the children on his show.
"He understood what they were going through and he was their biggest champion," the statement read. "The fact is many of the kids on these shows are put in the untenable position of becoming the breadwinner for their family and the pressure that comes along with that."
It continued, "Add on top of that the difficulties of growing up and having to do so under the spotlight while working a demanding job, all as a child. That is why there are many levels of standards, executives, lawyers, teachers and parents everywhere, all the time, on every set, every day. However, it is still a hard place to be a kid and nobody knew that better than Dan."
(E!, NBC News and Today are part of the NBCUniversal family.)
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (9691)
Related
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Inside Clean Energy: With Planned Closing of North Dakota Coal Plant, Energy Transition Comes Home to Rural America
- The Fed raises interest rates by only a quarter point after inflation drops
- Inside Clean Energy: Ohio’s Bribery Scandal is Bad. The State’s Lack of an Energy Plan May Be Worse
- Could Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft reunite? Maybe in Pro Football Hall of Fame's 2026 class
- Alabama Public Service Commission Upholds and Increases ‘Sun Tax’ on Solar Power Users
- This Jennifer Aniston Editing Error From a 2003 Friends Episode Will Have You Doing a Double Take
- Coal Communities Across the Nation Want Biden to Fund an Economic Transition to Clean Power
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- TikTok officials go on a public charm offensive amid a stalemate in Biden White House
Ranking
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- This Jennifer Aniston Editing Error From a 2003 Friends Episode Will Have You Doing a Double Take
- Illinois and Ohio Bribery Scandals Show the Perils of Mixing Utilities and Politics
- What is Bell's palsy? What to know after Tiffany Chen's diagnosis reveal
- Juan Soto praise of Mets' future a tough sight for Yankees, but World Series goal remains
- Researchers looking for World War I-era minesweepers in Lake Superior find a ship that sank in 1879
- American Petroleum Institute Chief Promises to Fight Biden and the Democrats on Drilling, Tax Policy
- Take 42% Off a Bissell Cordless Floor Cleaner That Replaces a Mop, Bucket, Broom, and Vacuum
Recommendation
Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
Wildfire Smoke: An Emerging Threat to West Coast Wines
What is Bell's palsy? What to know after Tiffany Chen's diagnosis reveal
Restaurants charging extra for water, bread and workers' health plan
Appeals court scraps Nasdaq boardroom diversity rules in latest DEI setback
You Can't Help Falling in Love With Jacob Elordi as Elvis in Priscilla Biopic Poster
Defense bill's passage threatened by abortion amendment, limits on Ukraine funding
A Disillusioned ExxonMobil Engineer Quits to Take Action on Climate Change and Stop ‘Making the World Worse’