During Investigation Discovery’s explosive four-part documentary “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” Joe Bell, the father of former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, revealed claims that he was called “homophobic” after raising concerns with the network about the inappropriate behavior he witnessed between former dialogue coach, Brian Peck—now a convicted sex offender—and his then 15-year-old son.
“I went to production and said, ‘You know, I really am very uncomfortable with this guy, Brian Peck, always being around my son,’” Mr. Joe Bell emotionally recounted.
“I go, ‘I don’t see anything abnormal, but I don’t have a good feeling.’ And she goes, ‘Oh, I don’t know if you knew it or not, but he’s gay. Maybe you’re just homophobic, and you just don’t understand that he’s a touchy-feely guy.’ So I said, ‘Okay.’ And it just kept not sitting well with me, so I told people on the set. And I was ostracized, so I backed off.”
Mr. Joe Bell mentioned that he was familiar with rumors about the entertainment business, namely the recommendation that parents of child stars should keep a close eye on their kids.
“So I was very attentive,” he said. “All the other parents would be seen and not heard, which I would never interrupt anything but very rarely sat in the green room I'd always be off-set somewhere where I could always keep my eyes on Drake.”
Mr. Joe Bell noted that Mr. Peck started to hang around his son “too much.”
“It didn’t sit well with me,” he said. “Drake would be in the dressing room or something, and in would pop Brian, and just touch Drake.”
He continued: “Then he'd ... be feeding [Drake] some lines ... and put his arm around his waist. Put his hand up on his shoulder, and kinda run it down his arm, and things like that. And this would happen routinely. It was just always uncomfortable.”
A Nickelodeon spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email: “Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct.
Sexual Abuse Revelations
In the third episode of the series, Mr. Drake Bell made the startling revelation that he was the unnamed minor in the 2004 sexual assault conviction of Mr. Peck.Mr. Peck, 43 at the time, was ultimately arrested in 2003 and later pleaded “no contest” to 2 of his 11 charges—performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old child by a person 10 years older and oral copulation with a minor under 16. The following year, he was convicted and sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender.
In the documentary, Mr. Drake Bell recounted how his former dialogue coach “integrated” himself into the actor’s life. “I think Brian got a sense that my dad was on the watch. And so he started to really drive a wedge between my dad and me,” he explained, noting that Mr. Peck made him believe his father was “horrible for [his] career” after he secured his own television show, “Drake & Josh.”
“Coming from someone like Brian, I was believing it because he’s been in this business for so long and he must know more than us,” the actor recalled.
“Everything changed with Brian one morning. I knew that my life was going to be absolutely, completely different from that point on,” he explained. “I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep and I woke up to him—I opened my eyes, I woke up, and he was sexually assaulting me.”
He continued: “I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react.”
Mr. Drake Bell said the abuse went on for months. “It just got worse and worse and worse and worse. And I was just trapped. And I didn’t, I had no way out. The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal.”
In addition to the “Drake & Josh” star, many other former child actors opened up about shocking allegations of toxic workplace conditions and abuse they were reportedly subjected to while working on various Nickelodeon shows, helmed at the time by showrunner Dan Schneider. After working with the network since 1993, Nickelodeon eventually cut ties with Mr. Schneider in 2018.Alexa Nikolas of “Zoey 101” and several “All That” stars, including Giovonnie Samuels, Kyle Sullivan, Bryan Hearne, and Katrina Johnson, were among those who recounted their harrowing experiences in the documentary.
