Drake Bell "appreciates" that Josh Peck reached out to him "privately" after he opened up about the abuse he suffered during his time at Nickelodeon.
Drake and Josh was one of the biggest Nickelodeon shows of the 2000s
The 37-year-old actor starred alongside Josh Peck on Amanda Bynes' sketch show 'The Amanda Show' in the late 1990s before they landed their own sitcom for the network in 2004, but by this time he had already suffered "extensive and brutal" abuse at the hands of a dialect coach for the network.
After revealing his identity on the new documentary ' Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV', Josh opted to contact his former 'Drake and Josh' co-star privately and Drake admitted that he preferred it this way because of how he was there at the height of their fame together.
Speaking on the 'Not Skinny But Not Fat' podcast, he said: "Josh worked on 'The Amanda Show', so he saw and knew what was going on. 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.
"I don't think he knew specifics, but there were people who worked on the show that knew who it was."
In 2004, Brian Peck (no relation to Josh) pleaded no contest to a charge of oral copulation with a minor under 16 as well as a charge of performing a lewd act with a 14 or 15-year-old. Bell was the plaintiff but his identity as the victim was not made public at the time.
Peck spent 16 months in prison and was mandated to register as a sex offender.
Recalling the abuse, Bell said: "Brian and I became really close because we had a lot of the same interests, which looking back, I think that was probably a little calculated.
"I was sleeping on the couch where I usually sleep and I woke up to him... I opened my eyes and I woke up and he was…he was sexually assaulting me,
"And I froze, and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react.
"You know anytime I had an audition or anytime I needed to work on dialogue or anything, I somehow ended up back at Brian's house.
"And it just got worse, and worse, and worse, and worse, and I was just trapped. I had no way out. The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal."
After the docuseries aired, Josh did take to social media himself to share a message of support to all former child stars who spoke out.
He said: "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. 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."
The docuseries aired on March 17 and March 18, and executives at the children's network have claimed that they are "dismayed and saddened" to learn of the situation now that Drake has disclosed his identity.
In a statement, Nickelodeon said: "Now that Drake Bell had 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."
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