Drake Bell on Why He Finally Shared His Story, 'Pretty Empty' Response from Nickelodeon

In his first interview since the 'Quiet on Set' docuseries release, Bell talks being previously shamed for not participating in a documentary, not hearing from anyone who wrote letters of support for his abuser, and his very different experience with showrunner Dan Schneider.

Drake Bell is feeling a lot of love and support from fellow Nickelodeon stars and his fans, but there are 41 people he has not heard from. The Drake & Josh star opens up about that and more in his first interview since he revealed he was the victim of child sexual abuse in ID's Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

While much of the bombshell docuseries focused on Dan Schneider's allegedly abusive behavior, the biggest headlines came from Bell's shocking reveal that he was the child star who came forward with allegations of sexual abuse against Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck.

After the two-night event rocked the world, Bell sat down for The Sarah Fraser Show podcast, where he opened up about the anxieties he had before he'd even agreed to participate in the docuseries, and his thoughts about what he saw on it and what's happened -- or not happened since.

"I haven't gotten an apology, or a sorry, from anybody that had written letters or was involved in supporting him at all," Bell said, per Deadline, of the 41 individuals who wrote letters of support for Brian Peck at his sentencing.

Some of those names were revealed in the docuseries, including Boy Meets World stars Rider Strong and Will Friedle, James Marsden, Saturday Night Live alum Taran Killam, and Growing Pains' Joanna Kerns and the late Alan Thicke.

Some of those individuals have also spoken publicly about their letters, with the BMW stars saying they'd been misinformed about the case. X-Men producer Tom DeSanto also told People his letter was "based on incomplete information."

"To sit there and say, 'Yes, I did this, but it's not how they're painting it' -- I mean, I can't imagine framing it in a way where 41 people, adults, say 'Oh, well that totally makes sense, how you're telling me, that makes sense,'" said Bell on the podcast.

In his statement, DeSanto did publicly apologize to Bell, adding that if he'd been "fully informed of all the accusations, my support would have been absolutely withheld." Kerns echoed this sentiment, also saying she "never would have written the letter," had she known the full story.

Bell was appreciative of DeSanto's apology, noting, "This is a very, very tough thing for everyone involved, and that's what happens when people like Brian do what they do -- it creates a ripple effect. And so that was really cool of him to do."

One person Bell did hear from was his co-star Josh Peck (no relation to Brian Peck). Bell and Peck have maintained their friendship through the years, which is why fans found Peck's public silence so disconcerting after the docuseries aired. But Bell jumped onto his own social media to assure them Peck had reached out to him privately.

When talking about why he'd finally decided to go public with his story after all these years, Bell admitted that there was a lot of reluctance on his part, and that it still took him a long time, and a trip to rehab, to fully decide he was ready.

One part of his reluctance was due to a bad experience he'd had with a previous documentary that wanted him to get involved. While he did not name the project in question, he said that he was brutally shamed for declining to participate.

"The response I got was unbelievable," Bell said on the podcast, per The Hollywood Reporter. "In the email, they said that people like me were the problem, and this is why things aren't gonna change in the industry because people like you won't speak out and won't come forward."

"It was just all this shaming of me not wanting to be a part of their documentary," he continued. "So I've always been cautious and on edge whenever approached to talk about such a sensitive topic."

He said that things quickly felt different with the Quiet on Set team after he met one of its directors, Emma Schwartz. "She was very sensitive, and we kind of became buddies," he said. "I could tell that she was coming from a genuine place when we started our back-and-forth."

Bell didn't feel like she was trying to manipulate him into participating, and so he invited her to Los Angeles to at least meet and talk. But while that meeting went well and put him even more at ease, Bell also knew that there was too much going on in his personal life at the time.

In particular, the actor was dealing with child endangerment charges from 2021, with the media misreporting the results of that case as him having been registered as a sex offender. He was given probation and community service, but never registered as a sex offender.

And so, Bell opted to go into rehab where he says he experienced a lot of trauma therapy in both group and one-on-one sessions which really helped him with "unearthing all of these things that I hadn't faced head-on, or if I had tried to, it was too painful."

Ultimately, through that experience and through continuing communication with the documentary team, Bell decided to tell his story. He also invited his father, who'd been pushed out of his life all those years ago through his abuser's manipulations, to be a part of it, as well, hoping it might be "cathartic and beneficial" for him.

Nickelodeon's official response was also a part of the story, though Bell wasn't all that impressed by it. In their response to Bell's story, Nickelodeon said in a statement, "Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward."

"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."

Bell said, "It was a very well-tailored response saying, 'Learning about his trauma,' because they couldn't say that they didn't know about this or what had happened, or anything. So I think that was a really well-tailored response by probably some big attorney in Hollywood."

"I find it pretty empty, their responses, because, I mean, they still show our shows, they still put our shows on. And I have to pay for my own therapy," he added.

"If there was anything, if there was any truth behind them actually caring, there would be something more than quotes on a page by obviously a legal representative telling them exactly how to tailor a response."

Bell did circle back around to Schneider, as well, though he had a very different experience than most of the other young stars. The docuseries lobbed allegations of toxic and abusive on-set behavior and inappropriately sexual content on his shows, which Schneider responded to after it aired.

"When I watched the show, I could see the hurt in some people's eyes, and it made me feel awful and regretful and sorry," Schneider said in a video statement, per The Hollywood Reporter. "I wish I could go back, especially to those earlier years of my career, and bring the growth and the experience that I have now and just do a better job and never, ever feel like it was OK to be an a--hole to anyone, ever."

"Watching over the past two nights was very difficult — me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret," Schneider said. "I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology."

One person not looking for an apology, though, is Bell, who said that the show creator was incredibly supportive after his experiences. "When Drake and I talked and he told me about what happened, I was more devastated by that than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far. And I told him, 'I'm here for you,'" Schneider said in his video.

Bell echoed this, saying that it was Schneider who had reached out to him after Brian Peck's trial. Bell had not revealed his identity, but Schneider suspected it was him, and Bell confided the truth in him.

"He knew what I was probably dealing with, but I could tell in his voice that he got very-- there was a lot of hurt and anger, but he was very sensitive to me, and that was my experience," Bell said.

At the same time, while acknowledging that his experience with Schneider was very different to those of many of his young colleagues, Bell said he would never want to minimize their voices or stories.

"I can only react and respond to what I've actually experienced and also not say anything that would take away from somebody else having the comfortability and strength and bravery to tell their story and share their experiences," said Bell.

You can check out Bell's full interview about Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV below.