“Drake & Josh” actress Nancy Sullivan responded to Drake Bell’s revelations around the release of the “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” docuseries about Nickelodeon creator Dan Schneider.
The actress, who portrayed the brothers’ mom, posted a photo of actor Drake Bell to Instagram with a statement in the caption.
“They weren’t my real kids, but I’ll always love them. It broke my heart into a million pieces to hear just how much Drake was holding inside while we were working together,” she wrote. “I was both devastated and proud seeing the man he’s grown into sit down on camera and bravely tell his truth.”
Bell spoke in the docuseries to detail his experience of sexual abuse at the hands of former dialogue coach Brian Peck while working for Nickelodeon.
“Past abuse doesn’t define us, and it has no right to rule our lives,” Sullivan continued. “I know that putting this burden down will free him in so many ways. I hope memories of the joy he had on our shows will someday greatly overshadow the pain. Sending love to Drake for a deep healing and for a rich and beautiful life ahead.”
Former “Drake & Josh” producer Dan Schneider called the moment of time that this happened “the darkest part of my career” as he recalled how he helped the actor’s mother pen a testimony for the 2004 trial that convicted Peck.
Bell revealed Wednesday that his costar Josh Peck had “reached out” to him in light of the revelations to “help me work through this” after he saw backlash against the actor who played his brother on the Nickelodeon show.
The cast of “Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide” was also called out by Bell for making light of the situation in a video that circulated after the release of the docuseries. Devon Werkheiser can be seen talking at length about Schneider while making jokes at the expense of the creator’s victims. He has since apologized.
“I was being an idiot today. No way around it,” Werkheiser said in a statement on Twitter. “I feel horrible that my dumbass was even speaking about this without seeing it. I watched ‘Quiet on Set’ tonight and am horrified by the gravity of what Drake and others shared.”