Drake Bell stepped up in defense of the parents of child actors who suffered behind the scenes at Nickelodeon, asserting that they were all vulnerable and that parents and adults were also exposed to the terrors of the television network.
It seems that the Quiet on Set saga is far from over. In addition to all the allegations against Dan Schneider, the reactions from many actors and production members of various channel programs, and Drake Bell’s testimonies continue to stir controversy on social media.
Following the documentary episode airing, Drake spoke about the parents who were harassed by crowds after the documentary, where many people labeled them as negligent and accused them of doing very little to safeguard the safety of their child actors.
Drake Bell Defends Parents of Child Actors
Drake came to their defense, stating that many of these parents were inexperienced in the industry just like their children, and that they were also learning.
“Some of these were our first jobs. Some of these were our parents’ first time on a set, and they’re just learning along with us. So to say ‘Oh, the parents should have stepped in with this and that’ — no, there should be somebody who’s experienced that can see, oh you know what, this child seems uncomfortable, I’m gonna be able to take him or her with their parent and bring them over here, ‘Do you feel comfortable doing this?’” said Bell.
Drake Bell’s mother, in particular, is being cruelly singled out as people claim that she didn’t defend her son properly when the whole issue with Brian Peck occurred. What happened with his mother is that she allowed him to spend a lot of time with Peck because she didn’t want to commute him back and forth from Orange County where they lived to the sets every day. On the contrary, DB’s father is considered a hero because he was very involved in his son’s acting career and mentioned that he didn’t like Brian being so close to Drake.
Other child actors like Giovonnie Samuels and Bryan Hearne, who shared the screen with Drake on the show All That, share the actor’s opinion that the parents of child actors are to blame.
