Josh Peck Praises Drake Bell and 'Brave' Survivors for Sharing Abuse Allegations After Taking 'a Few Days to Process' Doc

Josh Peck is speaking out for the first time following his former Drake and Josh costar Drake Bell’s abuse allegations.

On Thursday, Josh, 37, shared a statement on Instagram in response to Bell’s recent forthcomings about suffering sexual abuse as a child actor at the hands of a Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck (to whom Josh has no relation) in the new series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

“I finished the Quiet on Set documentary and took a few days to process it,” he wrote. “I reached out to Drake privately, but I 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,” he continued. “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.”

The statement comes one day after Bell, 37, revealed on TikTok that the How I Met Your Father alum had reached out to him in response to his sexual abuse allegations.

“Processing this and going through this is a really emotional time,” the "Found a Way" singer explained in the video. “A lot of it is very difficult so not everything is put out to the public. But I just wanted to let you guys know that [Josh] has reached out to me and it’s been very sensitive."

"But he has reached out to talk with me and help me work through this and he’s been really great,” he added.

Bell also referenced Josh's recent TikTok videos and asked fans to "take it a little easy" on him in the comments section.

A few days earlier, Josh received backlash from fans after sharing a video where he mouthed the words to a viral sound. He could be seen lip-syncing the words, "If I haven’t talked to you since 2023, take that as a f---ing sign that you don’t exist to me anymore.”

Users quickly flooded the comments and claimed that the timing of Josh's post was "odd" and accused him of remaining silent after his former costar came forward about the alleged abuse he suffered.

Earlier this month, Bell came forward as a survivor of sexual abuse in Investigation Discovery's new series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. The former child star opened up about the abuse he endured from the dialogue coach, which occurred over a six-month period when he was 15.

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“The clip reveals that former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell will be sharing publicly, for the first time, the story of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Brian Peck, his former dialogue coach who was convicted in 2004 for his crimes against Drake and ordered to register as a sex offender,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in a press release shared with PEOPLE.

In 2004, in connection with Bell's case, Brian pleaded no contest to a charge of oral copulation with a minor under 16 as well as a charge of performing a lewd act with a teenager. Bell's identity as the victim was not made public as he was a minor at the time. Brian spent 16 months in prison and was mandated to register as a sex offender. 

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.