Entertainment
James Marsden still hasn’t apologized to Drake Bell for supporting Brian Peck
James Marsden has not apologized privately or publicly for his past support of the man who sexually abused Drake Bell as a child.
April 8, 2024, published at 5:30 PM ET
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Marsden was one of many Hollywood stars who wrote letters of support for Peck prior to his conviction for abusing Bell.
“No one has contacted me,” Bell said of the Hollywood names who wrote letters to a judge ahead of Peck’s 2004 sentencing hearing in Van Nuys, California. The letters were intended to portray Peck in a positive light so that he would receive a less severe punishment for molesting the child star.
In his letter of support, Marsden wrote that he had known Peck for fourteen years, since he was a teenager.
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Bell revealed that he has not received a personal apology from any letter writer in a fifth bonus episode of “Quiet on Set” that aired Sunday.
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“I assure you that what Brian has experienced this past year is the suffering of a hundred men,” Marsden wrote in 2004, adding that Peck “has learned his lesson.” “
He continued, “The Earth would fall out of the sky before Brian would even think about doing something like that again.”
“I owe a lot to Brian Peck for who I am and what I’m proud of,” Marsden said.
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Among the 40 others who have written similar letters are stars like Taran Killam, Alan Dikke, Tom DeSanto, Ron Melendez, Rider Strong, Will FriedelAnd Johanna Kerns.
When asked if he had heard from any of them during Sunday’s episode, Bell said: “Personally? No. Not a single person who wrote any of those letters has contacted me.”
Bell also said last month that he had not received an apology from any letter writer in an interview on the Sarah Fraser show podcast.
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In 2004, Peck was sentenced to 16 months and ordered to register a sex offender.
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In the fourth episode of Quiet on SetBell recalled being painfully aware that Peck had no shortage of support after the conviction.
“It was the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen,” Bell said during his interview, describing walking into the courthouse for the sentencing hearing and seeing Peck’s side of the courtroom “full” of supporters.
“There were definitely some recognizable faces on that side of the room,” Bell said. “And my side was me, my mother and my brother.”
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“Brian had been convicted, but had support from a lot of people in the industry, and yes, I was quite shocked,” he added.
It is not clear who was in the courtroom at Brian’s sentencing, but Bell was clear that none of the people who wrote letters had contacted him personally. Since the ID series aired, Friedle and Rider have expressed regret over their support of Peck.
Bell said that while “I really appreciate their perspective now,” it hasn’t changed his view of the day of Peck’s sentencing, which is “so deep in my mind.”
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Drake Bell publicly revealed for the first time in the docuseries that he was sexually abused by dialogue coach Brian Peck.
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He also said Friedle did not mention the situation during their work Spider-Man together, despite having “many opportunities” to do so. The Drake & Jos star acknowledged that “it’s a very difficult topic to bring up, especially in a work environment.”
“That’s the tricky part about this,” Bell explained in the new ID episode, adding that “everyone deals with their trauma in different ways, everyone comes to different conclusions at different times in their lives, and comes to different realizations.”
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Peck pleaded no contest to two counts of child sex abuse and the judge sentenced him to 16 months and ordered him to register as a sex offender.
He continued working Zack and Cody’s suite life on the Disney Channel.
