For the first time, Drake Bell opened up about being assaulted during his time at Nickelodeon and the trauma he has gone through since.
For the first time, Drake Bell is opening up about being sexually assaulted by Nickelodeon dialogue and acting coach Brian Peck.
“Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” the upcoming ID documentary airing March 17 and 18, dives into both the alleged emotional abuse by Nick executive Dan Schneider and the physical abuse by Brian Peck.
In 2003, Peck, 43 at the time, was arrested on 11 charges — including sodomy, lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older, and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance — but the minor was not named until now.
“My name is Drake Bell and I came here today to tell my story,” Bell says during the documentary’s third episode, before detailing his close relationship with Peck, whom he met at the beginning of Season 2 of “The Amanda Show.”
At first, Bell’s father was his manager and became uncomfortable about how much time Peck was spending time with his son, so much so that he went to production and told them. “I go, ‘I don’t see anything abnormal but it just doesn’t — I don’t have a good feeling,’” he said. At the time, Joe Bell claims production told him that Peck is gay and said, “Maybe you’re just homophobic and you just don’t understand that he’s a touchy-feely guy.”
He “backed off” after feeling “ostracized,” and eventually, was pushed out of his son’s life. Because Drake Bell and his mother lived in Orange County, it seemed easier to stay at Peck’s home in L.A. when he had an audition.
Spending time at Peck’s home wasn’t irregular for the kids of Nickelodeon. “All the parents loved him too. Everyone trusted Brian,” said Kyle Sullivan, who appeared on “The Amanda Show and “All That.”
Sullivan also recounted a BBQ at Peck’s house, where he had a shrine to “The Planet of the Apes” in the garage and one painting that didn’t belong — a birthday clown with balloons. When the kids asked Peck about it, he proudly showed them that it was a gift from serial killer John Wayne Gacy, and on the back was a message: “Brian, I hope you enjoy the painting. Best wishes. Your friend, John Wayne Gacy.”
Additionally, he showed them letters and photos in the nightstand in his bedroom from Gacy, as they’d become penpals while Gacy was in prison.
“Your instinct is to give someone the benefit of the doubt if you’ve known them for that long, even in the face of this really bad sign,” said Sullivan. “This man, who is like trusted as basically a supervisor of kids, is not safe.”
Bell, for his part, also gave him the benefit of the doubt. He spent many nights at Peck’s and then, “everything changed with Brian one morning,” he said.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep. I woke up to him — I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me. I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react, and I have no idea how to get out of this situation,” Bell said. Fifteen at the time, he didn’t know what to do and it “became this secret” because he knew that if he stopped going to Peck’s, people would ask questions. Peck was “so apologetic,” saying it would never happen again.
“He figured out how to convince my mom and everyone around to, anytime I would have 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. I was just trapped. I had no way out,” said Bell. “The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal. I don’t know how to elaborate on that on camera, really… Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault, and then I’ll answer your question. I don’t know how else to put it.”
Bell didn’t immediately go to the police, but says in the documentary that his girlfriend’s mother knew something was off after Peck called repeatedly one night when he was at the house. In fact, she then took him to a therapist after fearing he was in danger. “I was just so scared to say anything, I didn’t know how to explain [it.] I still don’t… I’ve never talked about this outside of therapy. I just said, ‘No, everything’s normal, things are getting a little weird but nothing’s happened. Good thing we caught it when we did.
