Former Drake & Josh star Josh Peck has broken his silence about ex-co-star Drake Bell regarding charges of child endangerment against the former Nickelodeon television personality and recording artist. Bell pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempting to endanger children and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating material harmful to juveniles stemming from a 2017 incident in Ohio involving a teenage girl. Police said the meeting followed months of social media messages that were reportedly sexual in nature. Prior to his conviction, Bell potentially faced a prison sentence of up to 18 months. The actor eventually received two years probation and 200 hours of community service.
The two actors have known one another for almost 20 years. Bell was a regular on the ensemble comedy series The Amanda Show and Peck joined as a guest in season 2. The chemistry between the two was off-the-charts and their first skit together involving a shrimp is a classic Nickelodeon comedy moment. Peck and Bell were teamed up together to star in their own series beginning in 2004, Drake & Josh, and remained comedy partners until the series went off the air in 2007.
Peck, the star of the Disney+ reboot of the 1989 Tom Hanks film, Turner & Hooch, addressed Bell's legal issues on the red carpet in an interview with Variety. "It's upsetting, and it's an unfortunate situation," Peck told the outlet. "It's disappointing." Peck did not share any further comments about his former co-star's legal situation, nor did he reveal if he had spoken to Bell.
Peck and Bell have not worked together on any further television projects since Drake & Josh's end, but they remain forever linked thanks to the show's success and continuing popularity. Drake & Josh would go on to spawn another comedy series centering on one of their own, iCarly. This series, which has also recently been revived on Paramount+, stars Miranda Cosgrove, who played Meghan, Drake's younger sister, on Drake & Josh.
While this criminal charge has marred the professional reputation of Bell, it remains to be seen how and if it will affect his relationship with Peck. The two former Nickelodeon stars famously feuded in 2017 when Peck wed Paige O'Brien and Bell was not invited to the wedding. While the men eventually cleared the air after Peck said the affair was small and he let his wife tend to the details, it showed the cracks in the relationship between the actors that were so bonded together due to their prior television work, their followers tended to believe they were that close in real life.
Source: Variety