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Josh Peck breaks silence on Drake Bell amid Nickelodeon allegations

22 March 2024, 16:14

Drake Bell confirms Josh Peck has reached out to him following backlash

By Sam Prance

Josh Peck previously came under fire for a TikTok video he posted after Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV came out.

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Josh Peck has released a statement following the backlash he received for not commenting sooner about Drake Bell and the allegations made in the Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries.

On Sunday (Mar 17), a new four-part documentary exploring the dark side of Nickelodeon premiered on ID. In the episodes, cast and crew members from Nickelodeon series open up about their negative experiences on the set of shows including iCarly, Victorious and The Amanda Show. There are allegations of abuse, sexism, racism and inappropriate behaviour.

In the docuseries, Drake Bell, who is best known for starring in Drake & Josh, comes forward as the unnamed minor in the 2004 sexual assault conviction of former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck. Since Drake has spoken out, Drake's former co-star Josh Peck has faced criticism for not addressing the revelations in Quiet on Set.

Now, Josh has responded to the criticism, voiced his support for Drake and explained why he initially remained silent.

Josh Peck breaks silence on Drake Bell amid Nickelodeon allegations. Picture: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images, ID

Taking to Instagram, Josh wrote: "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."

He then added: "Children should be protected. 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."

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A post shared by Josh Peck (@shuapeck)

Shortly after Quiet on Set originally debuted, Josh posted a TikTok video in which he lip-synced to a viral sound saying: "If I haven’t talked to you since 2023, take that as a f*cking sign that you don’t exist to me anymore." People accused Josh of being insensitive and questioned the timing of the post.

However, Drake then came to Josh's defence in a separate TikTok video. Drake explained: "[Josh] 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."