Warning: This article contains potentially disturbing information related to sexual assault and substance abuse. Please read with care.
It’s nearly impossible to recall the early era of teen sitcoms from the late 1990s and early 2000s and not think of two of Nickelodeon’s most popular series, The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh. Both aired from around 1999 to 2007. Both are considered by many to be of the Golden Age of the teen sitcom genre. And both starred American actor Drake Bell.
Bell’s acting career carried him through nearly three decades, from the mid-1990s to the early 2020s. He starred in a plethora of small TV shows and even voiced the role of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man in a number of animated Marvel shows from 2012 to 2017, including Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man. Throughout this time, Bell also leaned into a career in music, a profession to which he’s devoted years of his time, and even released almost half a dozen albums.
As is, unfortunately, the case for child actors, Bell’s time in the spotlight as he grew older was marred by controversy, a common occurrence for those who spend so many years under a microscope from such a young age. By 2015, the actor and musician was arrested for driving under the influence. Then, in 2021 he was hit with his biggest problem yet after a Cuyahoga County grand jury in Ohio indicted him for “charges of attempted endangering children, a fourth-degree felony, and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a first-degree misdemeanor,” according to ABC News 5 Cleveland.
Still, there was more to come. Let’s look at Bell’s conviction, the controversy surrounding it, and the guilty plea he ultimately entered, as well as the addiction problems that plagued his adulthood.
Being accused of sexual contact and grooming an underage fan
In 2021, it was announced that Drake Bell, 34 years old at the time, had been charged with grooming an underage fan and attempted child endangerment, as well as sexual misconduct. Bell ultimately pled guilty to the child endangerment charges, and was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service.
In a virtual sentencing, the victim, who is now in her 20s, claimed she had been made to perform oral sex on Bell when she was just 15 years old. “He was calculating, he preyed on me and sexually abused me,” she said in her statement, as reported by Daily Mail. “He is a monster and a danger to children.”
She went on to claim that Bell is “the epitome of evil” and called him a pedophile. “’I deserve better than to be used for his sick desires, and for my suffering to be used for his amusement. Jared Drake Bell is a pedophile and that is his legacy,” she said.
Upon seeing the surprised look on Bell’s face at the mention of these accusations, she then added, “Don’t look at me like that!”
Why Drake Bell says he pled guilty
Shortly following the news of his guilty plea, Drake Bell took to Instagram to address the situation himself. “Most of the news you’ve heard recently is entirely false and wrong,” he said in a video clip. “I feel that you deserve, and I owe you, an explanation.”
According to him, the situation was not as spontaneous as it appeared from the outside. After a three-year ordeal, he decided to plead guilty, as it was the quickest and easiest way out, although he still maintains that the claims about him are false. Nevertheless, he also agreed that his interactions with the victim were “reckless and irresponsible.”
“I know that this has moved very quickly for you, but for me, it’s been a three-year, thorough investigation into every false claim that has been made. And, it’s not me telling you that the claims are false, but the state of Ohio has proven the claims to be false. If these claims were remotely true, my situation would be very different. I would not be here at home with my wife and my son.
“I responded to a fan whose age I didn’t know. Yet when I became aware of their age, all conversation and communication stopped. And this individual continued to come to shows and pay for meet and greets, all while I was unaware that this was the same person I was communicating with online, and that’s what I plead guilty to.
“It was reckless and irresponsible text messages. I want to make clear that there were no sexual images, nothing physical between me and this individual, I was not charged with anything physical. I was not charged with disseminating of photographs or images or anything like that. This is strictly over text messages. And when I was presented with a plea deal, because of the messages, I felt that it was the best way to get this over quickly and for everybody involved to be able to move on, and for me to get back to doing what I love. And that’s making music for you.”
Addiction, the dissolution of his marriage, and going missing
In January 2023, while still in the midst of his two-year probation for child endangerment, Bell and his wife Janet Von Schmeling, with whom he shares a son, quietly separated after five years of marriage, according to People. The news came just one month after photographs revealed Bell inhaling balloons in the front seat of his car while his son sat in the back, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Bell ultmately entered an outpatient clinic for substance abuse shortly thereafter, according to People. “Drake needed to take time to get help and focus on his health,” a source for the magazine said.
On April 20, a week after Bell was reported missing and then later found, Von Schmeling formally filed for divorce. Bell addressed the topic of his whereabouts in a since-deleted post on X (then known as Twitter), saying “You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this?”
Ever since, Bell has continued interacting with his fans on social media and promoting his music. In August he set out on a 6-stop tour across Mexico titled the “Non Stop Flight Tour.” He’s also released new music, which he promotes on his social media channels.
On Aug. 19 he responded to a fan letter during in Instagram Live video in which he emotionally adressed the “crazy few years” that have occured since his his legal woes began. With visible tears in his eyes, Bell said it’s been “so nice to be out on the road again” and expressed “how much it means to me that I can still continue to share my music. My words, my thoughts, and translate that into song, and that you all are still showing up.” He concluded by saying, “It’s awesome. It’s just awesome.”
Bell comes out as a victim of sexual abuse
In March 2024, Bell made headlines again, for an equally shocking reason but this time it was on his terms. Drake Bell sent former Nickelodeon fans reeling when he appeared in Investigation Discovery docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which took a look at a convicted child abuser who worked for Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel in the ’90s and ’00s. This was the first time that Bell had come forward to open up about being a victim of sexual assault at the age of 15.
The subject of the series is Brian Peck, a former dialogue coach who was arrested in 2003 on 11 charges of child abuse. Bell described the abuse he suffered from Peck (no relation to Bell’s Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck) as “extensive” and brutal.” When asked to specify what he experienced, Bell stated: “Why don’t you think of the worst stuff someone can do to somebody as a sexual assault and that will answer your question,” he said.” I don’t know how else to put it. It was not a one-time thing.”
The release of Quiet on Set has helped ameliorate Bell’s reputation in the public eye, but his conviction remains a stain on his life and career that refuses to entirely go away.
Published: Mar 21, 2024 12:37 pm