Drake Bell is speaking out about Nickelodeon’s “pretty empty” response in his first interview since the release of the “Quiet on Set” documentary series.
The former “Drake & Josh” star slammed the network’s reaction after he alleged in the docuseries that Brian Peck, a former dialogue coach on “All That” and “The Amanda Show,” sexually abused him when he was a child actor at the network.
Peck was arrested on multiple charges linked to sexual abuse involving an unnamed minor in 2003. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender after he pleaded no contest to two charges of child sexual abuse the following year.
Nickelodeon, in a statement shared with several media outlets in regard to Bell’s allegation against Peck, said, “Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.”
“Quiet on Set” episodes also conclude with a Nickelodeon statement, where the network said it “investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace,” noting “numerous safeguards” it has adopted to ensure it lives up to its “high standards” and audience expectations.
“There’s a very well-tailored response saying, ‘Learning about his trauma,’ because they couldn’t say that they didn’t know about this or know what had happened, or anything,” Bell said of Nickelodeon’s statement in an interview on the “Sarah Fraser Show” podcast released on Friday.
“So I think that was a really well-tailored response by probably some big attorney in Hollywood. I find it pretty empty, their responses, because, I mean, they still show our shows, they still put our shows on,” he continued. “And I have to pay for my own therapy, I have to figure out what — I mean, if there was anything, if there was any truth behind them actually caring, there would be something more than quotes on a page by obviously a legal representative telling them exactly how to tailor a response.”
Bell told Fraser that his father, Joe Bell, who appears in “Quiet on Set,” would approach Nickelodeon executives at the time and flag adult behavior toward minors that he found “uncomfortable.”
“And they would shoo him away. If that’s their idea of an investigation, it’s very faulty, and I don’t think that they would discover anything with an investigation like, ‘Oh, you don’t understand, he’s just that way. That’s just how he is,’” the actor said.
“I mean, that’s not an investigation, so that’s a bold-faced lie.”
You can watch more of Bell’s interview with Fraser below.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.