Drake Bell and Josh Peck during Nickelodeon’s 17th Annual Kids’ Choice Awards – Arrivals at Pauley … [+] Pavillion in Westwood, California, United States. (Photo by Albert L. Ortega/WireImage)
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The documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV features several disturbing revelations from behind the scenes of some of the biggest children’s shows on Nickelodeon, such as Drake & Josh, The Amanda Show, Zoey 101, and iCarly.
Nickelodeon showrunner Dan Schneider allegedly maintained an environment rife with abuse, sexism, racism and misconduct involving underage stars.
Zoomers and millennials who grew up watching these children’s shows have since expressed their shock online, with many commentators horrified by the allegations featured in the documentary series.
Drake Bell & Josh Peck
Much of the conversation centered around Drake & Josh, which starred Drake Bell and Josh Peck, who played the titular teenage stepbrothers. In the documentary series, Bell voices allegations of child sexual abuse against his former dialogue coach Brian Peck (no relation to Josh Peck).
Amid the emotional aftershock, Josh Peck received online backlash from former fans of the show who were upset that he didn’t release a public statement in support of Bell.
The backlash intensified after Josh Peck posted a TikTok featuring a popular audio clip that said, “If I haven’t talked to you since 2023, take that as a f**cking sign that you don’t exist to me anymore,” with some fans interpreting the clip as a coded message to Bell.
Josh Peck previously discussed his relationship with Bell during a 2022 appearance on the podcast BFFs with Dave Portnoy, Josh Richards and Brianna Chickenfry, in which he revealed that the two had drifted apart:
“Drake & Josh is something I’ll be synonymous with forever, and I’m proud of it. And I want to like the guy that my name is attached to forever, but unfortunately, it just sort of worked out the way that it did.”
Increasingly hostile comments from fans prompted Bell to release a TikTok requesting that fans “take it a little easy” on Josh Peck. In the video, Bell states:
“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 is very, very difficult.”
Bell revealed that Peck had reached out to him in private: “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.”
Two days later, Josh Peck took to social media himself, clarifying in an Instagram post that he needed “a few days to process” the situation, writing:
“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. 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.”
Nancy Sullivan, who played Peck and Bell’s mother on Drake & Josh, also posted her support for Bell in an Instagram post.
Big Names Supported Brian Peck
While Drake & Josh fans were disappointed by Josh Peck’s period of silence on social media, others were more concerned with the big figures in the entertainment industry who reportedly supported Brian Peck.
Brian Peck was found guilty of child sexual abuse in 2004 — while testifying against Peck in court, Bell recalled that several celebrities had written letters to support Peck, such as James Marsden, Taran Killam, and Alan Thicke.
Brian Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender. Somehow, Peck was hired to work on Disney’s The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
According to Variety, Peck was terminated after the company learned of his history.
