Last Updated on March 8, 2024
Former child actor Drake Bell appears in the upcoming documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV to share his allegations of being sexually abused by dialogue coach Brian Peck. The documentary will air as a two-night event, March 17 and March 18, on Investigation Discovery (ID).
Drake Bell, 37, had his breakthrough as a teen star on Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show from 1999 to 2002. The sketch show starred fellow kid actor Amanda Bynes and was created by Dan Schneider who executive-produced the show, among others. Drake Bell was reportedly abused during his Amanda Show tenure, according to Bell’s version of events. Bell went on to star on the Nickelodeon show Drake & Josh, which was also created by Dan Schneider. Brian Peck worked on The Amanda Show.
Dan Schneider, the overweight kid actor on the ’80s sitcom Head of the Class, lost his gig at Nickelodeon, who cut ties with Schneider in 2018 after allegations of on-set inappropriateness including anger issues and wanting women to massage him.
Brian Peck, meanwhile, was convicted for the sexual abuse of a child actor and he served 16 months behind bars. It is believed that Bell was the victim who put Peck away, and that Bell will discuss the matter in the documentary.
Amanda Bynes has suffered from various public mental health struggles since her career as a child comedic actress, highlighting the toll that Hollywood takes on young impressionable souls.
Bell himself pleaded guilty to child endangerment for allegedly having an inappropriate texting relationship with an underage female fan.
Various other people from the child entertainment industry appear in the documentary. Actors from the ABC show Boy Meets World (1993-2000) previously discussed Peck’s creepy behavior after he guest-starred on Boy Meets World. Will Hollywood ever be fully exposed?
As we reported in 2022: Ex-Disney Channel star Bella Thorne, 25, revealed an experience that she had when she was ten years old with a show business professional who clearly thought about her in a dirty way, even though Thorne was just a child. Thorne is a product of the Hollywood child-actor system. Thorne starred as a teenager on the Disney Channel series Shake it Up before going on to more mature acting roles.
“I had a director give me feedback once and I was 10. The casting director calls my agent and the agent calls my mom, and they’re like, ‘So she’s not moving forward because the director felt like she was flirting with him and it made him really uncomfortable,’” Bella Thorne stated in an interview with model Emily Ratajkowski, who hosts a podcast using the moniker EmRata. Thorne expressed shock that a director would sexualize her when she was merely ten years old.