Dan Schneider Reveals Drake Bell Was “Devastated” James Marsden, Taran Killam And Several Others Wrote Letters In Support Of His Abuser

Former Nickelodeon creator Dan Schneider recently revealed that Drake Bell was “devastated” by the amount of support his abuser received from other celebrities during his sentencing.

Schneider recounted Bell’s experience attending Brian Peck‘s sentencing in a video interview with iCarly star BooG!E that also showed the Nickelodeon creator addressing some of the claims Quiet on Set raised against him. Peck’s side of the courtroom was reportedly full of supporters, including James Marsden, Will Friedle, Rider Strong, Taran Killam, and more.

“A lot of them (were) pretty famous. Of course Drake was devastated that that happened. And even more disappointing, 41 of those people wrote letters for Peck’s character, letters praising him for who he was and asking for leniency,” Schneider said.

Bell recently came forward in Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV as the unnamed minor who had been abused by Peck, a voice coach and Nickelodeon actor who was arrested in 2003 on 11 charges of child sexual abuse. Peck, who was 43 at the time of his arrest, was later sentenced to 16 months in prison and was required to register as a sex offender.

The court documents from the case were unsealed for the documentary, revealing many celebrities who wrote letters to the judge asking for leniency in Peck’s sentencing.

Marsden’s letter noted that he had known Peck for 14 years. He wrote, “I assure you, what Brian has been through in the last year is the suffering of a hundred men.”

Killam, who also starred on The Amanda Show with Bell, also wrote about the impact the case had on Peck, saying, “I’ve seen the effects this situation has had on Brian and I know for a fact that he regrets any mistakes made.”

Friedle recently commented on the situation, saying Peck “turned” him and Strong “against the victim.”

“To be clear, though, he didn’t say nothing had happened,” Strong said. “So, by the time we heard about this case and knew anything about it, it was always in the context of, ‘I did this thing, I am guilty. I am going to take whatever punishment the government determines, but I’m a victim of jailbait. There was this hot guy. I just did this thing, and he’s underage.’ And we bought that storyline as opposed to saying, ‘Woah, grown man who is over 40 years old, what the hell are you doing?’”

The Hollywood Reporter reported that Bell called out the Boy Meets World stars for claiming they were “manipulated” in a since-deleted post. “Will was 27 years old and Brian told him what he did,” Bell wrote, per THR. “Many people turned away and said no, I won’t write a letter but [Friedle and Strong] did.”

He added, “Will was not manipulated. Brian admitted it to him and he wrote the letter anyway. Then he worked with me on many many episodes of Spider-Man years later and never said a word to me about it. This is because the were told there [sic] letters are gonna be made public. Everyone thought the letters would be sealed forever and no one would ever see them. This is their publicist telling them how to get ahead of their story.”

Decider has reached out to reps for Rider, Killam, and Marsden for comment.

If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.