“I had no way out.
Nickelodeon starDrake Bellis speaking publicly for the first time about the sexual abuse he survived as a teenager.
“I dont know how else to put it.
Drake Bell.Christopher Polk/Getty Images
It was not a one-time thing, it was not a Oops.'”
Reps for Peck did not immediately respond to EWs request for comment.
He explains that he and Peck initially connected over their mutual love for Old Hollywood.
Drake Bell in 2001.Gary Livingston/Getty
Bells father and manager, Joe Bell, immediately felt that something was off with Peck.
What are you doing?
Drake can put that on himself.
He continues, “The thing is, this in front of people.
And this would happen routinely.
It was just always uncomfortable.
Joe says he voiced his concerns to members of the crew.
I go, I dont see anything abnormal, but I dont have a good feeling.
And she goes, Oh, I dont know if you knew it or not, but hes gay.
Maybe youre just homophobic, and you just dont understand that hes a touchy-feely guy.
So I said, Okay.
And it just kept not sitting well with me, so I told people on the set.
And I was ostracized, so I backed off.
And I had no idea how to get out of the situation.
Ill just sit here and wait.
I had no car, I didnt drive.
I was 15 at this time.
Bell says of keeping the abuse a secret at the time.
“And it just got worse and worse and worse and worse.
And I was just trapped.
And I didnt, I had no way out.
The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal.”
She took Bell to her family therapist and encouraged him to share about his experience there.
Bell eventually told his own mother about the abuse and she immediately called the police.
The investigation was pretty brutal, he says.
Why did this happen?
He just started a full-on confession.
And then, he kept asking me over and over again, Are we being recorded?
I was like What next, what next, you know?
He was ordered to register as a sex offender.
