Yahoo Lifestyle Josh Peck Spoke Out About Drake Bell's Sexual Abuse Revelations In "Quiet On Set"
This article contains discussion of child sex abuse.
Josh Peck spoke out after Drake Bell revealed he was abused by Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck.
Drake was one of several former Nickelodeon stars who shared their stories in the newly-released ID docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
Recalling one night when he stayed at Brian's home, Drake said, “I was sleeping on the couch where I usually sleep, and I woke up to him... He was sexually assaulting me. And I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react.”
Drake said, from there, the abuse reoccurred. “Anytime I had an audition, or anytime I needed to work on dialogue or anything, I somehow ended up back at Brian's house. And it just got worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and I was just trapped. I had no way out. The abuse was extensive, and it got pretty brutal," he alleged.
Ultimately, Brian was arrested after Drake revealed the abuse, serving a 16-month sentence after pleading no contest to two counts of child sex abuse. Drake's identity was never disclosed until he came forward as the victim for the docuseries.
After the release of Quiet on Set, many of Drake's former Nickelodeon costars shared support for him, including his onscreen mom, Nancy Sullivan.
Josh — who appeared with Drake on Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh — didn't immediately comment, but this afternoon, he broke his silence on Instagram.
Josh wrote, "I finished the Quiet on Set documentary and took a few days to process it."
"I reached out to Drake privately, but want to give my support for the survivors who were brave enough to share their stories of emotional and physical abuse on Nickelodeon sets with the world."
"Children should be protected," he added. "Reliving this publicly is incredibly difficult, but I hope it can bring healing for the victims and their families as well as necessary change to our industry."
Josh's statement came after fans criticized him for his public silence on Drake's abuse claims, which Drake later defended him against on TikTok. In a video, he said Josh had contacted him privately and asked the public to "take it a little easy" on his former costar.
You can see Josh's full statement here.
