In the wake of public outcry following the release of Quiet on Set, Drake Bell is wondering what took so long.
The five-part documentary series features former child stars discussing the abuse and mistreatment they allegedly suffered at the hands of those in power in the entertainment industry, including Bell, 37, revealing he was sexually abused by former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck.
Despite Bell’s name being newly revealed as the John Doe who accused Peck, the charges against Peck — no relation to Bell’s Drake & Josh costar Josh Peck — have been common knowledge for decades.
Brian was arrested in 2003 for lewd acts with a child, which followed former Nickelodeon production assistant Jason Handy being arrested for distributing sexually explicit material by email, lewd acts on a child and sexual exploitation of children.
“The biggest concern here is you have two people working on the same show within a matter of months getting arrested for unspeakable and horrific things,” Bell said at an event on Tuesday, April 9, via Deadline. “If I was a reporter, I would be frothing at the mouth for that story.”
While Brian was eventually sentenced to 16 months in prison, Bell couldn’t understand why there wasn’t more attention given to the crimes.
“There were years I would go and google to see who has written about it,” Bell said. “It was nowhere. I couldn’t find stuff on Brian, there was more on Jason. I was so perplexed by that. This is the response that I feel should have happened so many years ago, the reaction that everybody is having now. This needs to change.”
Before participating in Quiet on Set, Bell said he was approached to tell his story in another documentary — but he wasn’t quite ready.
“Hollywood is very small, especially when you work on shows,” he explained. “You become a family. People talk. I just was not in a place where I wanted to talk or put it out in the world.”
When he declined, Bell couldn’t believe how the documentary team reacted.
“The response was unbelievable,” Bell noted. “They wrote back and said, ‘Because of people like you, more children will be hurt in the industry. You need to speak out.’ I was like, ‘Did you just really send that to me?’ I was shocked.”
Since the release of Quiet on Set, Bell admitted to feeling “in the fire” and said he’s “still reeling from the idea of bearing my soul to the world.”
“Hollywood is a beautiful place, full of fantasy and imagination and fun. But it’s also a completely dark cesspool of disgusting waste,” he continued. “I’m hoping that we see shifts and changes inside the industry that are needed.”
