During his appearance on the 'Not Skinny But Not Fat' podcast, Drake gushes over his on-screen brother on 'Drake and Josh' for the way he supported him after he opened up about his dark past.
- Apr 3, 2024
AceShowbiz - Drake Bell expressed his gratitude for his former "Drake & Josh" co-star Josh Peck and his support after he opened up about being sexually harassed by Nickelodeon dialogue and acting coach Brian Peck when he was a child. In a new interview, Drake shared that he truly appreciated how his on-screen brother reached out to him privately after "Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV" documentary aired.
During his appearance in the April 2 episode of the "Not Skinny But Not Fat" podcast, Drake shared, "Josh worked on 'The Amanda Show', so he saw and knew what was going on." He further noted, "But I appreciate that he reached out to me privately and didn't go straight to the media because he was there with me and saw what I was going through."
Drake, however, didn't think that Josh knew the entire story. "I don't think he knew specifics, but there were people who worked on the show that knew who it was," he told host Amanda Hirsh.
"He just knew how sensitive this was for me and after watching the documentary, he learned so much that I had gone through and I think he was just so sensitive and made sure to reach out to me privately rather than just going straight to social media," Drake, who claimed that he was abused for several months by Brian before "Drake & Josh" aired in 2004, added.
Prior to this, Drake was forced to defend Josh after Internet users slammed him for not speaking out publicly in the wake of the former's sexual abuse allegations. "He has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this and has been really great," the 37-year-old explained in a TikTok video. "Just wanted to let you guys know that and to take it a little easy on him."
Josh later issued a statement regarding the situation. "I want to give my support for the survivors who were brave enough to share their stories of emotional and physical abuse on the Nickelodeon sets with the world," he penned in a March 21 Instagram post. "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."
