Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell is speaking out on the allegations of grooming a teenage girl, emphasizing that the accusations are “not true.” In a recent interview on Dear Media’s “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast, the 37-year-old actor addressed the controversy surrounding his June 2021 guilty plea to charges of attempted child endangerment and disseminating harmful material to juveniles.
Bell explained that his decision to plead guilty was influenced by financial difficulties he was facing at the time. He admitted to engaging in inappropriate conversations with the unnamed teenager, acknowledging his irresponsibility in the matter. However, he maintained that he immediately cut off contact upon discovering her age.
“I responded on some DMs and was incredibly irresponsible and got myself into conversations that I shouldn’t have had,” he said on the show. “I ended up finding out that I was talking to someone that I shouldn’t have been talking to, and it snowballed into these allegations that were not true, and it just turned into this big thing.”
He was sentenced to two years of probation for his alleged crime.
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Reflecting on the repercussions of his actions, Bell expressed regret and emphasized the impact on his family. He disclosed that becoming a father prompted him to confront the situation and accept the legal consequences to shield his loved ones from further distress.
He went on to say, “I had just had a son, and I didn’t want to put my family through all of this anymore,” he told podcast host Amanda Hirsch. “I ended up going through the process the way that I did. Very regretful.”
The actor also opened up about his own experiences of sexual abuse, revealing the trauma he endured at the hands of his former Nickelodeon dialogue coach, Brian Peck. Bell shared that undergoing therapy has been instrumental in helping him address and process these past traumas, enabling him to confront his actions and take accountability for his behavior.
“There’s just so much that I’ve had to deal with, and through that, like I said, not having the tools or not knowing how to process things, I made a lot of decisions in my life that I shouldn’t have made and hurt a lot of people,” he told Hirsch, alluding to the sexual abuse he faced by his former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck.
Despite the challenges he has faced, Bell expressed a commitment to personal growth and healing.
“But now, where I am in my life now, I think that I’m finally at a place where I can process and deal with this through therapy, that I’ve been through and actively going through, unearthing all of these things and being able to face them head-on for, really, the first time in my life.”
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Bell has been making headlines once again following a recent appearance on the Investigation Discovery docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.” Bell courageously detailed the extent of the abuse he suffered, underscoring the importance of addressing issues of exploitation and misconduct in the entertainment industry.