Speaking on a devastating topic, Drake Bell speaks out for the first time about being sexually assaulted by Nickelodeon speech and acting coach Brian Peck.
Trigger warning: sexual abuse
In the new identification documentary, Silence on the set: The dark side of children’s television, Peck was a key issue. He had worked with child actors for years.
But in 2003, he was arrested on 11 charges, including sodomy, lewd act on a child 14 or 15 years old by a person 10 years older, and oral copulation using anesthesia or controlled substances. The minor in the case was not identified.
However, Drake Bell has revealed that he was the youngest. “My name is Drake Bell and I came here today to tell my story,” he declares during the third episode of the documentary. He then talked about his close relationship with Peck. He had met the dialogue coach on the set of Amanda’s show during the second season of the series.
Bell shared that his father, Joe, who was his manager at the time, was uncomfortable with the amount of time Peck spent with the child actor. He even spoke to production about his concerns.
“I say, ‘I don’t see anything abnormal, but it’s just not like that, I don’t have a good feeling,’” Joe said. He later claimed that the production team told him that Peck was gay. Then they accused him of being homophobic. “You just don’t understand that he’s a touchy-feely guy,” Joe remembers the production team telling him.
Joe decided to “back off” after feeling “left out” for his concerns. He was eventually kicked out of his son’s life. Drake ended up staying at Peck’s house in Los Angeles when he had auditions because his mother lived in Orange County. That’s when things took a turn.
Drake Bell said ‘everything changed’ with Brian Peck one morning
While continuing to talk about his interactions with Brian Peck, Drake Bell revealed that everything changed with the dialogue coach one morning.
“He was sleeping on the couch where he normally slept,” Bell explained. “I woke up with him, I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me.”
Drake Bell recalled being frozen and completely shocked by what was happening to him. “[I] “I have no idea what to do or how to react, and I have no idea how to get out of this situation.”
Bell later said that the situation became a secret because he knew that if he stopped working with Peck, people would ask questions. The actor also noted that Peck apologized profusely and assured him that would never happen again.
“He figured out how to convince my mom and everyone around him that every time he had an audition or every time he needed to work on dialogue or something, he somehow ended up back at Brian’s house,” she shared Drake Bell. “And everything went from bad to worse and from worse to worse.”
Bell later said the abuse was extensive and became brutal. “I don’t know how to explain that on camera, really… Why don’t you think about the worst things someone could do to someone like sexual assault, and then I’ll answer your question. “I don’t know how else to say it.”
Although he didn’t go to the police right away, his girlfriend’s mother knew something was wrong. Her first clue was that Peck called her repeatedly one night. She then took him to a therapist. However, Peck became more manipulative and attempted to be cast as the series’ father. Drake and Josh show.
Finally, Drake Bell spoke. This led to Peck’s arrest in August 2003.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn