NEWSDrake Bells Says He Can't Blame His Past Negative Behaviors on His Childhood 'Trauma' After Sexual Abuse Revelations
Drake Bell claimed opening up about his history of abuse had been 'very scary.'
Drake Bell is taking responsibility for negative actions in his past after opening up about his history of being sexually abused as a minor on the bombshell docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
During his recent appearance on "The Man Enough Podcast", Bell said that people need to "be able to discern and recognize" their own behaviors, rather than "just blame a moment of weakness on why you got in your car when you were drunk and you crashed into somebody and hurt them."
Drake Bell said he was sexually assaulted by Brian Peck as a child.
"Even though we have had these traumas and we’ve had things that we’ve experienced, I hate to say, ‘Oh, that’s why,’" he continued. "Because that’s not going to help me move forward and change my behavior."
The Drake and Josh alum — who has struggled with mental health issues, substance abuse and pled guilty to child endangerment in 2021 after texting an individual who was later revealed to be a minor — confessed he would not "fall back" on the thought, "Oh, well, I've been hurt, so I can [hurt people]."
Bell said he does not blame his trauma for his negative behaviors.
This comes after the 37-year-old confessed publicly that he'd been repeatedly sexually assaulted by dialogue coach and actor Brian Peck while working on Nickelodeon shows when he was only 15 years old.
In a particularly horrifying moment in the docuseries, Bell said he'd been sleeping on Peck's couch in his living room when he woke up to find the adult abusing him.
Bell opened on the horrifying sexual abuse perpetuated against him in 'Quiet on Set'.
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"I froze and was in complete shock. I had no idea what to do or how to react," he said. "It just got worse and worse and worse and … worse, and I was just trapped and I had no way out."
The Amanda Show actor described the abuse as "extensive" and "brutal."
"Imagine the worst thing someone could do to someone as sexual assault," Bell suggested while attempting to detail the assaults on television. "I don’t know how else to put it."
Drake Bell revealed he'd been sexually assaulted by Brian Peck at 15 years old.
Following the release of the bombshell documentary, fans rushed to Bell's defense and attacked his former co-star Josh Peck — who is unrelated to Bell's abuser — for allegedly remaining silent on the allegations.
"I want to clear something up. 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 … processing this and going through this is a really emotional time and a lot of it is very difficult," he said on social media late last month.
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"Not everything is put out to the public," he added. "But I want you guys to know that he has reached out to me ... He has reached out to talk to me and help me work through this."
