Drake Bell Exposed Sexual Abuse on Set; Now His Life Is Changed for The Better
By Movieguide® Contributor
This time last year, Drake Bell exposed some of the hardest moments of his life in the documentary QUIET ON SET: DARK SIDE OF KIDS TV, which dove into the abuse he experienced as a child actor.
“It’s been a really nice weight lifted,” Bell told PEOPLE, reflecting on the project a year later. “It’s a roller coaster of emotions. I don’t want to sugarcoat it and make the message, ‘Hey, all you got to do is just tell somebody and get your story out and when you wake up the next day, it’s going to be gone and everything’s going to be fine and you’re going to walk through life without any pain or sorrow or sadness!’ It’s always going to be there, but it’s a lot nicer getting support.”
READ MORE: DRAKE BELL SAYS SON INFLUENCED DECISION TO SHARE ABUSE STORY IN QUIET ON SET
Since the release of the Teddy Bear Award® nominated documentary, Bell has heard other survivors stories.
“It’s really great to have experiences now where, instead of walking through the airport and having people come up and ask for a selfie, they’re coming up and sharing their stories and saying, ‘I watched your documentary and after your interview, I opened up to my husband. It’s something I’ve never told anybody,’” he shared. “I didn’t expect to have for the piece to have that kind of impact on people.”
Movieguide®’s review reads:
QUIET ON SET: THE DARK SIDE OF KIDS TV is an important five-part documentary exposé streaming on Max. The documentary miniseries discusses the abuse occurring on several Nickelodeon programs produced by Dan Schneider, who got his start starring on ABC-TV’s popular sitcom HEAD OF THE CLASS in the late 1980s. As he succeeded in producing hit after hit for Nickelodeon, Schneider allegedly became more volatile and abusive with the increase of his power. Episodes Three and Four focus on a case involving the dialogue and acting coach, Brian Peck, for the program DRAKE & JOSH, who was convicted of abusing the program’s star, Drake Bell.
QUIET ON SET makes clear that children between 8 and 15 are extremely vulnerable and need to be protected from exploitation. Every aspect of this series is important for exposing the underside of Hollywood. QUIET ON SET has a very clear, strong moral worldview, with a few brief mentions of prayer. Although there’s very little visual sex or violence and practically no foul language in QUIET ON SET, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution because of the subject matter.
Bell is still not used to the world knowing his secrets, but he recognizes that it’s making a difference.
“It’s still like, wow, everybody knows my past and everybody knows my life,” he explained. “But at the same time, it’s nice because my fans, they’re going back to my older songs from Telegraph, for example, which was written and produced while I was experiencing everything. It’s all in that record lyrically. Fans are now going back to those records and going, ‘This song hits so much harder. He’s been screaming from the mountaintops since Day 1.’”
Now, the former Nickelodeon leans on his loved ones, his faith and therapy to help him heal.
“Hearing other people’s stories in group therapy and thinking to yourself, ‘Oh, wow, that was a really heavy story. That’s what you’ve experienced in your life, maybe I feel a little comfortable to share my story and then maybe I can empathize with others.’ Because when you go through something like this, one of the main things is you’re alone,” Bell said. “But then you hear these other stories and you’re like, ‘I’m not the only one.”
“Having a higher power, knowing that you’re not alone in this universe, you don’t have to do it on your own, there’s always somebody looking out for you plays a big part in it,” he continued.
Beyond those struggling after abuse, Bell also uses his resources to help those in need. One boy, Rafita, is fighting for his life.
“This is my new little buddy Rafita. Rafita has type 1 spinal muscular atrophy, a condition that affects his mobility and vital functions,” Bell wrote on his social media. “But with your help we can change his story! He is only 20 months old, lives in Ensenada Mexico, and has only known this bed and this room. With the money raised we can get him a procedure that would allow him to walk and play like he should be. Please take a second to donate. Link in bio!!”
READ MORE: NEW DOCUMENTARY SPOTLIGHTS ‘THE DARK SIDE’ OF KIDS’ TV SHOW SETS
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