Drake Bell asked his captive, combined 19.2M social media following to 'take it easy' on his former Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck over his silence on his newly-revealed sexual assault at age 15.
The troubled 37-year-old had confessed in Investigative Discovery's new docuseries Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV that he was the unidentified minor who came forward in 2003 about being molested by dialogue coach Brian Peck (no relation to Josh).
The 63-year-old registered sex offender served 16 months in prison in 2004-2005 after being arrested on 11 charges — including sodomy, lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older, and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance.
During the trial, Brian - who was hired by the Disney Channel after prison - enlisted 41 people to write letters of support urging the judge to give him probation including Alan Thicke, James Marsden, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle.
Even though Josh was not among the 41, outraged Quiet On Set viewers have flooded his Instagram and TikTok accounts with comments accusing him of being unsupportive, receiving hush money, and condoning sexual assault against minors.
Drake Bell (R, pictured in 2015) asked his captive, combined 19.2M social media following to 'take it easy' on his former Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck (L) over his silence on his newly-revealed sexual assault at age 15
The troubled 37-year-old had confessed in Investigative Discovery's new docuseries Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV that he was the unidentified minor who came forward in 2003 about being molested by dialogue coach Brian Peck (no relation to Josh)
'We all watched it Josh,' TikTok user @thejunquelove wrote.
TikTok user @jennygarcia618 commented: 'Have you checked on Drake?'
'Josh took that money and ran,' TikTok user @xymomx2 wrote.
At that, Drake (born Jared) took to TikTok on Wednesday and uploaded a video in order 'to clear something up.'
'I've noticed a lot of comments on some of Josh's TikToks and some of his posts and I just want to let you guys know that processing this and going through this is a really emotional time and a lot of it's very, very difficult,' Bell admitted.
'So not everything is put out to the public, but I just want you guys to know that he has reached out to me, and it's been very sensitive, but he has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this and has been really, really great. So I just wanted to let you guys know that and to take it a little easy on him.'
The former child stars first found fame playing stepbrothers in the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh, which aired for four seasons spanning 2004-2007 as well as TV films - Drake & Josh Go Hollywood (2006) and Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008).
But Drake and the 37-year-old Oppenheimer actor haven't been pictured together since December 2015 when Bell guest-starred in one episode - titled 'The Biter' - of Peck's Fox sitcom Grandfathered, which aired two months later.
The 63-year-old registered sex offender(pictured in 2012) served 16 months in prison in 2004-2005 after being arrested on 11 charges — including sodomy, lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older, and oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance
During the trial, Brian(pictured in 2014) - who was hired by the Disney Channel after prison - enlisted 41 people to write letters of support urging the judge to give him probation including Alan Thicke, James Marsden, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle
Even though Josh (pictured Sunday) was not among the 41, outraged Quiet On Set viewers have flooded his Instagram and TikTok accounts with comments accusing him of being unsupportive, receiving hush money, and condoning sexual assault against minors
'Josh took that money and ran,' TikTok user @xymomx2 wrote
At that, Drake (born Jared) took to TikTok on Wednesday and uploaded a video in order 'to clear something up'
Bell admitted:'I've noticed a lot of comments on some of Josh's TikToks and some of his posts and I just want to let you guys know that processing this and going through this is a really emotional time and a lot of it's very, very difficult'
He continued:'So not everything is put out to the public, but I just want you guys to know that he has reached out to me, and it's been very sensitive, but he has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this and has been really, really great. So I just wanted to let you guys know that and to take it a little easy on him'
The former child stars first found fame playing stepbrothers in the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh, which aired for four seasons spanning 2004-2007 as well as TV films - Drake & Josh Go Hollywood (2006) and Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008)
But Drake and the 37-year-old Oppenheimer actor (L) haven't been pictured together since December 2015 when Bell guest-starred in one episode - titled 'The Biter' - of Peck's Fox sitcom Grandfathered, which aired two months later
The I Kind of Relate singer credited his father Joe Bell for being suspicious of how close Brian was acting around his son, which helped give Drake the courage to come forward about his 'extensive' and 'brutal' abuse.
Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz's four-part docuseries described Brian as 'very much one of the cogs in the Dan Schneider machine' as the Nickelodeon executive producer oversaw the crew accused of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior on set.
'That was probably the darkest part of my career,' the 58-year-old Emmy nominee - who left Nickelodeon in 2018 - admitted in a 19-minute DanWarp YouTube video on Tuesday.
'Watching over the past two nights was very difficult. Me facing my past behaviors - some of which are embarrassing and that I regret. I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.'
Brian was also an associate of canceled director Bryan Singer, who hosted notorious Hollywood parties filled with underage boys, and his career ended in 2019 after facing a slew of his own sexual assault allegations.
Unfortunately, Bell continued the cycle of abuse by pleading guilty in 2021 to 'attempted endangering [of] children and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.'
The Every Day Is Christmas With You singer was sentenced to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service after a 19-year-old woman accused him of grooming her from ages 12-15 and sexually assaulting her at his 2017 Cleveland concert.
Drake - who was charged with DUIs in 2010 and 2016 - said he only took the plea deal to end the scandal quickly, and claimed he didn't know her age and denied ever sending her sexual photos or engaging in sexual activity.
The I Kind of Relate singer credited his father Joe Bell (L) for being suspicious of how close Brian was acting around his son, which helped give Drake the courage to come forward about his 'extensive' and 'brutal' abuse
Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz's four-part docuseries described Brian as 'very much one of the cogs in the Dan Schneider (R) machine' as the Nickelodeon executive producer oversaw the crew accused of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behavior on set
The 58-year-old Emmy nominee (R) - who left Nickelodeon in 2018 - admitted in a 19-minute DanWarp YouTube video on Tuesday:'That was probably the darkest part of my career'
Unfortunately, Bell continued the cycle of abuse by pleading guilty in 2021 to 'attempted endangering [of] children and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles'
The Every Day Is Christmas With You singer was sentenced to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service after a 19-year-old woman accused him of grooming her from ages 12-15 and sexually assaulting her at his 2017 Cleveland concert
Drakesaid in Quiet On Set:'I took responsibility for that, you know, I did what was asked of me, but the media grabbed a hold of so much misinformation, and it absolutely destroyed me.And I started to spin our of control. If I had continued down that path, that could very likely be the end of my story'
Bell's wife of four years - Janet Von Schmeling(pictured Tuesday) - filed for divorce from him on April 20, and she appears to have primary custody of their toddler son Jeremy Drake Bell
Bell also denied all the verbal and physical abuse allegations in 2020 from his ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt, who also accused him on TikTok of 'having inappropriate conversations online with underage girls.'
'I took responsibility for that, you know, I did what was asked of me, but the media grabbed a hold of so much misinformation, and it absolutely destroyed me,' The Masked Singer Mexico contestant said in Quiet On Set.
'And I started to spin our of control. If I had continued down that path, that could very likely be the end of my story.'
Drake's wife of four years - Janet Von Schmeling - filed for divorce from him on April 20, and she appears to have primary custody of their toddler son Jeremy Drake Bell.
On July 16, Bell announced via X that he started writing a book called I Found A Way, adding: 'You will finally know my true story.'
