Trigger Warning: This article contains depictions of sexual assault and abuse. They were co-stars on the hit Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh, but Miranda Cosgrove has been criticized for her response to Drake Bell’s sexual abuse bombshell that aired during the Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docu-series on Investigation Discovery. Bell revealed that he was the previously unidentified teen victim of Brian Peck, a dialogue coach who was jailed for 16 months for sex acts with a minor.
Much like Bell’s co-star Josh Peck, Cosgrove hasn’t spoken publicly about the documentary or its revelations. While she hasn’t posted to Instagram in more than 6 weeks, fans have taken to the comments section to demand a statement from her. “The silence is so loud Miranda.. seriously disappointed,” one wrote. “I’m looking at you weird until you speak out about the quiet on set…,” wrote another.
“My name is Drake Bell and I came here today to tell my story,” Bell says during the documentary’s third episode. In one instance of his interview, he revealed that he was sexually abused by Peck.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep. I woke up to him — I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me. I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react, and I have no idea how to get out of this situation,” Bell said, who was 15 years old at the time. Peck was “so apologetic,” saying it would never happen again.
“He figured out how to convince my mom and everyone around to, anytime I would have 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. I was just trapped. I had no way out,” said Bell. “The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal. I don’t know how to elaborate on that on camera, really… Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault, and then I’ll answer your question. I don’t know how else to put it.”
Fans have also slammed Josh Peck for staying silent. His most recent Instagram post, shared four days before the documentary premiered on Investigation Discovery on March 17, is flooded with comments from fans calling for him to say something.
On March 21, Peck broke his silence and issued a statement to Instagram. “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.”
Bell acknowledged the support of his former castmate. “Josh worked on The Amanda Show, so he saw and knew what was going on,” said Bell on the April 2 episode of the podcast Not Skinny But Not Fat. “I appreciate that he reached out to me privately and he didn’t go straight to the media, because he was there with me and saw what I was going through.”
