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Drake and JoshIt is Drake Bell comes out publicly in new documentary and alleges he was sexually assaulted as a child star by Nickelodeon's dialogue coach Brian Peck. Recent teaser confirms Bell was interviewed for upcoming Investigation Discovery series Quiet on set: The dark side of children's televisionwhich focuses on the conditions of the spectacles created by Dan Schneider in the 90s and early 2000s. By a Business Insider report from one of Calm on setExecutive producers of , Bell opens up in the docuseries about Peck allegedly abusing him when he was 15 years old. (This would date the allegations to the time Peck was working on Amanda's Showin which Bell starred from 1999 to 2002.) In 2003, Peck was arrested and pleaded no contest to committing a lewd act against a 14 or 15 year old and oral copulation with a minor under 16. Peck was ultimately convicted, sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender in 2004.
Bell, who has chosen to remain anonymous as a minor in the case until now, has had a tumultuous past few years. It was briefly reported missing by the police in 2023. In 2021, a judge ordered him to serve two years of probation and 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty to charges of attempted child endangerment and sending inappropriate messages to a 15-year-old girl. Bell has also previously denied abuse accusations by his ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt.
Calm on setscheduled for release on March 17 and 18, would include interviews with several other former child stars and crew members. A boy meets the world stars Rider Strong, Will Friedle and Danielle Fishel recently shared that they had been approached by the docuseries, but instead wanted to address their story with Peck in an episode of their podcast. Peck, who appeared as an adult guest in A boy meets the worlddeveloped close friendships with young Friedle and Strong.
Fishel suggested that adults on set may have been afraid to question relationships because of Peck's sexuality. “There was probably a part of them that didn't say it because they were afraid it would be perceived as homophobia,” she theorized, “instead of saying, 'C 'is a boundary, gay or not.' It is a boundary between adults and children.
Friedle and Strong reflected on their past defense of Peck during his case, which included writing letters of support to a judge and physically showing up for him in court. “We're sitting in this courtroom on the wrong side of everything…The victim's mother turned around and said, 'Look at all the famous people you brought with you. And that doesn’t change what you did to my child,” Friedle recalled. “I just sat there wanting to die. It was like, “What am I doing here?” It was horrible everywhere.