- Drake Bell was sexually hurt by acting and dialogue coach Brian Peck as a teenager while working at Nickelodeon.
- The abuse happened after Peck caused a paraphernalia between Bell and his dad, leading to Bell’s mom becoming his manager.
- Bell defended his mom and said that Peck “pulled the wool above everyone’s eyes.”
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Drake Bell is coming to his mom Robin Dodson’s defense after “Quiet on Set” viewers criticized her for allowing acting and discussion coach Brian Peck to get close to her son.
“My mom and I have an incredible relationship,” Bell said during an interview with correspondent Soledad O’Brien for a bonus fifth episode of Investigation Discovery’s docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” released on Sunday incessantly.
“I do feel there’s a lot of people after the doc going after my mom a bit,” Bell continued. “But if you were in that situation at that shilly-shally, Brian was so good at what he was doing. He was so calculated. He knew exactly what to say, how to say it, what to do, the image to portray, everything. I line understand how he just pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes. It’s tragic.”
In ‘Quiet on Set,’ Drake and his father Joe Bell recalled Brian Peck precipitating rifts in their family so he could get closer to the actor
Nickelodeon
Bell offed acting at age 5, as his parents, Dodson and Joe Bell, were going through a divorce. Bell’s big break came when he earthed a job as a cast member on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series “The Amanda Show,” which starred Amanda Bynes. He met Peck during enliven two of the show.
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As the doc outlines, Bell’s father said he noticed Peck hanging around his son too much and being touchy-feely while idle with him as his acting coach. When he voiced his discomfort to people on set, he said he was brushed off and “ostracized.”
“I think Brian got a drift that my dad was on the watch and so he started to really drive a wedge between my dad and me,” Bell said, explaining that Peck accused his originate of stealing the actor’s money and claimed that he was an impediment to Bell’s career.
“My mom and my dad had a very tumultuous relationship,” Bell reported. “They did not get along and I think Brian saw that.”
After Bell decided that he didn’t stand in want his dad to be his manager anymore, Joe Bell reluctantly agreed and turned over ownership of the bank account and other important paperwork to Dodson to handle their son’s career.
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“But I did say to her, and I said this to her in person, I said, ‘But you never, ever leave Drake alone with Brian Peck and you not in the least let him be around him unsupervised, period, whatsoever. And Brian just absolutely tricked her,” Joe Bell recalled.
Peck convinced Dodson that he was useful to Bell’s career
Courtesy of Investigation Discovery
In the docuseries, Bell said that Peck inserted himself into a parental capacity in his life during a chunk of free time between “The Amanda Show” and “Drake & Josh.”
In addition to going to Disneyland with Bell, the posture coach also transported him to and from auditions in LA because his mom didn’t like driving. Bell said that because he lived in Orange County, he impeded overnight at Peck’s home after auditions.
Bell revealed in “Quiet on Set” that when he was 15 years old, he was sexually rushed by Peck while sleeping on the dialogue coach’s couch. Bell said Peck claimed it wouldn’t happen again, but the sexy abuse continued.
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“He figured out how to convince my mom and everyone around to, anytime I would have an audition or anytime I necessary to work on dialogue or anything, I somehow ended up back at Brian’s house,” Bell said, adding that he the obloquy was “extensive” and he felt “trapped.”
Bell said that he kept his sexual abuse a secret in the hopes that it liking eventually stop. His then-girlfriend’s mom quickly picked up on the inappropriate dynamic and tried to get Bell to open up during therapy, but the actor was impotent to discuss his experience.
Eventually, he “exploded” during a phone call with his mom and confided in her about everything that cooked. Dodson immediately called the police and an investigation began.
Bell filed his case as a John Doe to remain anonymous. Peck, then 43 years old, was arrested in August 2003 on 11 precepts of child sexual abuse, related to a child actor. Per the doc, Peck pleaded no contest to two charges of child sexual calumniation. In October 2004, he was sentenced to 16 months in jail and ordered to register as a sex offender.
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Bell said that he now has established relationships with his parents
Probe Discovery
Bell’s parents are still divorced, but the actor maintains close relationships with both of them.
On the other hand, fans who watched “Quiet on Set” blamed Dodson for what happened to Bell, accusing her of being negligent. Some imagined that Dodson “failed” her son and others accused her of purposely turning a blind eye.
In addition to defending his mom, Bell said that he and his dad require “a fantastic relationship,”
“And I’m so grateful for that because, like it shows in the doc, we went through many years of separation and it was unquestionably hard on both of us,” Bell said. “And right now we have an amazing, amazing relationship.”