Drake Bell Speaks Out About Sexual Abuse He Suffered
Devon Werkheiser is walking back previous comments.
After the 33-year-old and his fellow Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide alums Lindsay Shaw and Daniel Curtis Lee seemed to make fun of the docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV—which chronicles the alleged difficult working conditions under Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider as well as the sexual abuse Drake Bell experienced—Werkheiser is issuing an apology.
"I was being an idiot today," he wrote in a March 19 statement shared to X, formerly known as Twitter. "No way around it. 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. Truly heartbroken over what my fellow actors went through. I can't believe they weren't protected. I'm sorry for compounding any hurt."
Werkheiser captioned the post, "So sorry to Drake. Gutted I hurt you."
The former child star's apology comes only hours after Bell called Werkheiser out, retweeting a screen recording of Werkheiser's comments over which he wrote, "Ned's Declassless…this is wild…laugh it up guys…laugh it up… Really?!"
photosNickelodeon Stars Then and Now
The moment occurred during a TikTok livestream—much of which has since been uploaded to social media where it's received a backlash—when Werkheiser told his former costar, "Get back in your hole, Daniel," before continuing with a lewd joke.
He then proceeded to compare his experience with Nickelodeon with the Drake & Josh star's, saying, "Sorry, we shouldn't joke about this. We really shouldn't. Listen, our set was not like that. And no, it's f–king awful. The Drake Bell s–t, that's crazy to hear."
Leon Bennett/Getty Images for Universal Pictures
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In Quiet on Set, Bell, now 37, comes forward as the previously unnamed minor involved in the 2004 sexual assault conviction of Brian Peck, who was hired as an acting and dialogue coach for season two of the network's All That.
Regarding Bell's decision to break is silence, Nickelodeon said in a statement to NBC News, "Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward."
The Amanda Show alum's story is one of the many interviews within the documentary that detail the experiences of those working on various Nickelodeon shows in the 1990s and 2000s, with Schneider at the center of the controversy.
Ahead of the documentary's release, a spokesperson for Schneider told E! News in a lengthy statement that the producer and writer cared for the wellbeing of the children on his shows.
"He understood what they were going through and he was their biggest champion," the statement read. "The fact is many of the kids on these shows are put in the untenable position of becoming the breadwinner for their family and the pressure that comes along with that."
The note continued, "Add on top of that the difficulties of growing up and having to do so under the spotlight while working a demanding job, all as a child. That is why there are many levels of standards, executives, lawyers, teachers and parents everywhere, all the time, on every set, every day. However, it is still a hard place to be a kid and nobody knew that better than Dan."
For some of the biggest bombshells dropped in Quiet on Set, keep reading.