Former child actor and Drake & Josh star Drake Bell says Nickelodeon’s response to Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV documentary is “pretty Empty,” adding, “They still show our shows” while “I have to pay for my own therapy.”
“I find it pretty empty, their responses, because, I mean, they still show our shows, they still put our shows on,” Bell said of Nickelodeon during Friday’s episode of The Sarah Fraser Show podcast, speaking out publicly for the first time since the release of Quiet on Set.
Bell called Nickelodeon’s response to Quiet on Set “a very well-tailored response” that was likely crafted by “some big attorney in Hollywood,” given that the network said it was “learning about his trauma,” noting, “They couldn’t say that they didn’t know about this or what had happened.”
“I have to pay for my own therapy,” Bell added. “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.”
As Breitbart News reported, the docuseries featured a slew of shocking revelations, including the fact that Bell was the “John Doe” victim in former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck’s child molestation case — a secret that had been kept from the public for 20 years.
Following the release of Quiet on Set, Nickelodeon told Variety, “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,” the statement continued.
“Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience,” the network’s spokesperson concluded.
During his Friday appearance on The Sarah Fraser Show, Bell also said, “I was going through so much in my personal life and after that interview [for Quiet on Set], I ended up checking myself into rehab.”
The former child star said he was “going through a lot of trauma therapy” during rehab.
“A lot of group therapy, a lot of one-on-one therapy,” Bell added. “Your entire day was filled with working through and processing this with a clear mind, and unearthing all of these things that I hadn’t faced head-on, or if I had tried to, it was too painful.”
“And so through that process, once I got out, I thought to myself, ‘Maybe this is a good time to reach back out to them and say, ‘Hey, I’m not 100 percent yet, let’s talk some more, but I’m getting closer to feeling comfortable with finally sharing my story,'” he said.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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