“Drake & Josh” star Josh Peck has spoken out about the “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” docuseries, which has brought to light the toxic environment on Nickelodeon sets with a focus on former producer Dan Schneider.
The actor expressed support for his costar Drake Bell, who described his own experience of being sexually assaulted by dialogue coach Brian Peck.
Bell spoke about the abuse for the first time in the the four-part docuseries, which debuted on Sunday, revealing that he was the unnamed minor who was abused by former dialogue coach and production assistant Brian Peck — who is not related to Josh Peck — more than 20 years ago.
“I finished the Quiet on Set documentary and took a few days to process it. I reached out to Drake privately, but want to give my support for the survivors who were brave enough to share their stories of emotional and physical abuse on Nickelodeon sets with the world,” Josh Peck wrote on Instagram. “Children should be protected.”
The actor confirmed what Bell had already said, sharing that Josh Peck had reached out to him in light of the docuseries to support Bell in this time.
“Reliving this publicly is incredibly difficult, but I hope it can bring healing for the victims and their families as well as necessary change to our industry,” Josh Peck’s post concluded.
Nancy Sullivan, who portrayed the mother of Drake and Josh in the Nickelodeon television series, also posted to Instagram in support of Bell.
“They weren’t my real kids, but I’ll always love them. It broke my heart into a million pieces to hear just how much Drake was holding inside while we were working together,” she wrote. “I was both devastated and proud seeing the man he’s grown into sit down on camera and bravely tell his truth.”
Schneider called the time he helped Bell’s mother write a testimony for the 2004 trial that ended with Brian Peck being convicted “the darkest part of my career.”
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