Drake & Josh star Josh Peck (left) has spoken out after his co-star's sexual assault claims. Photo / Getty Images
Drake & Josh star Josh Peck (left) has spoken out after his co-star's sexual assault claims. Photo / Getty Images
Josh Peck has offered his support to the “survivors” who shared their stories of being abused while working for Nickelodeon.
The 37-year-old comic had faced criticism for not publicly addressing the claims made by his Drake & Josh co-star Drake Bell that he was sexually abused at the handsof Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck - who has no relation to Josh - in new documentary series Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, but he has now explained he needed time to process all the claims made on the show.
He shared a statement on Instagram that read: “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.”
Josh Peck and Drake Bell have been in contact on a private level since Bell's allegations of sexual assault by Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck (no relation).
His statement comes after Drake, 37, defended Josh over his silence and revealed they had been in contact privately.
He said on TikTok: “I just wanted to clear something up. I’ve noticed a lot of comments on some of Josh’s TikToks and some of his posts.
“I just wanted to let you guys know that processing this and going through this is a really emotional time.
“A lot of it is very difficult so not everything is put out to the public. But I just want you guys know that [Josh] has reached out to me, and it’s been very sensitive.
Actor Drake Bell (left) with Drake & Josh creator Dan Schneider at the afterparty for Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh! at the Westside Pavillion on December 2, 2008 in Westwood, California. Photo / Getty Images
“But he has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this and he’s been really great.
“So, I just wanted to let you guys know that and to take it a little easy on him.”
In Quiet On Set, there are also allegations of a sexist and toxic environment in the writer’s room for producer Dan Schneider’s The Amanda Show, and actress Alexa Nikolas discusses being in Zoey 101, while cast and crew from iCarly, Sam and Cat, Victorious and more also appear.
