Drake Bell rose to fame as a child actor and quickly became a household name after starring in Nickelodeon hits like “Drake & Josh” and “The Amanda Show.”
In recent years, the 37-year-old has found himself in legal trouble and has been involved in several controversies.
Most recently, the actor announced that his former acting and dialogue coach Brian Peck sexually assaulted him for several months when he was a teenager.
Bell opened up about the experience in a new documentary titled “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” calling the abuse “extensive” and “brutal.”
In prior years, Bell has made headlines for allegedly going missing and pleading guilty to child endangerment. The star has also encountered other legal troubles.
December 2015: Drake Bell arrested on suspicion of DUI, gets 96 hours in jail
After he failed a sobriety test in Glendale, California, Bell was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving on Dec. 21, 2015. Per police reports obtained by TODAY.com, the actor was driving at an unsafe speed and straddling lanes.
Glendale Police spokeswoman Tahnee Lightfoot stated that an officer smelled alcohol and proceeded to conduct a field sobriety test. After being arrested and processed, Bell was released on the same day.
Per E! News, Bell was sentenced to four years of probation and 96 hours in jail after accepting a plea deal.
August 2020: Drake Bell denies allegations of abuse by his ex
In 2020, Bell’s ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt, whose stage name is Jimi Ono, accused him of physical and verbal abuse during their relationship in the 2000s.
Lingafelt made the allegations public in a TikTok video and said they began dating when she was 16. Lingafelt claimed that the verbal abuse began about a year into their relationship.
“And when I say verbal abuse, imagine the worst type of verbal abuse you can ever imagine, and that was what I got,” she said.
Lingafelt alleged that Bell’s abuse turned physical and involved “hitting” and “throwing.”
“At the pinnacle of it, he drug me down the stairs of our house in Los Feliz. My face hit every step on the way down,” she said.
At the time, Bell shared the following statement with TODAY.com, denying the claims.
“I never abused my ex-girlfriend or did so many of the other things Melissa falsely claimed on her TikTok video,” he said. “As our relationship ended — more than a decade ago — we, unfortunately, both called each other terrible names, as often happens when couples are breaking up. But that is it.”
“Clearly, Melissa still felt close enough to me just last year that she was comfortable reaching out to ask me to provide her with financial support during a tough time (which I did). I do not know if today’s behavior is some kind of misguided quest for more money or attention. But I cannot and will not allow these offensive and defamatory allegations to go unchallenged and I am reviewing my legal options,” he continued.
July 2021: Drake Bell gets probation for child endangerment
Bell was sentenced to two years of probation for child endangerment after a former female fan accused him of sexual misconduct, alleging that Bell sent her graphic photos and was “grooming” her since she was 12.
As part of the sentencing, Bell was also ordered to have no contact with the victim and was sentenced to 200 hours of community service.
During the trial, Bell’s former fan recalled meeting him online and going to one of his concerts. She described him as a “pedophile” and said he caused her “indescribable” pain.
“My life hasn’t been the same since I was 15. I think about these crimes every single day. I feel like I’m in a constant dark place. Sometimes I wish I could disappear so I can forget about what happened,” she said.
At first, Bell pleaded not guilty to the charges but later accepted a plea deal.
“Today I accept this plea because my conduct was wrong. I’m sorry that the victim was harmed in any way — that was obviously not my intention,” he said in a statement at the sentencing hearing. “I have taken this matter very, very seriously, and again I just want to apologize to her and anyone else who may have been affected by my actions.”
Bell’s lawyer Ian Friedman also offered the following statement to NBC News at the time.
“The victim’s allegations that went beyond that which all parties agreed, not only lack supporting evidence but are contradicted by the facts learned through extensive investigation,” he said. “As the court made clear, this plea was never about sexual misconduct or sexual relations with any person, let alone a minor.”
March 2022: Josh Peck says he and Drake Bell aren’t friends anymore
Even though they starred in “Drake & Josh” together, Bell and his former co-star Josh Peck are no longer in each other’s lives. While appearing on Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards’ podcast “BFFs” in March 2022, Peck said they had very different personalities.
“We were kids, right? Obviously, there were times when we were closer than not, but when inevitably the show ended — I mean, we’re just totally different kids,” he said. “I say in my book, ‘I was like this kid from New York who was into the Beastie Boys, and he was a kid from Orange County who was into the Beach Boys,’ like it was just different people.”
Peck explained that he and Bell simply went their separate ways after filming.
“‘Drake & Josh’ is something I’ll be synonymous with forever and I’m proud of it,” he said. “And I want to like the guy that my name is attached to forever, but unfortunately, it just sort of worked out the way that it did.”
When he got married in 2017, Peck didn’t invite his former co-star since they weren’t involved in each others’ lives at that point. But he said Bell sent him an angry text on his wedding day and posted about it on social media.
“When you’re not invited to the wedding the message is clear…,” Bell reportedly wrote in a since-deleted message on social media, according to E! News.
“Loyalty is key,” Bell continued in another deleted remark, the outlet reported. “ALWAYS remember where you came from.”
In his March 2022 conversation on Dave Portnoy and Josh Richards’ podcast, Peck said the two of them hadn’t kept in touch so he didn’t invite Bell to the wedding.
“So I didn’t invite him to my wedding because I hadn’t really talked to him in many, many years,” Peck said. “Cut to: I’m getting married that night and I see these text messages from him cursing me out, coming for me on the night of my wedding. And I’m like, ‘Yo.’ And it’s delusional because I’m like, ‘Bro, we worked at Coffee Bean when we were 16. I’m sorry, I’m 31 now. I might’ve lost your number.’”
When Bell continued to talk about the matter, people started harassing Peck’s wife over the matter on social media. Peck said he decided to confront Bell about it at an awards show.
“I go up to him and this might be the most ‘Sopranos’ thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “I look at him and I go, ‘Go apologize to my wife right now.’ And he goes, ‘OK.’ And he made a beeline for my wife and I see him do this whole five-minute performance of an apology.”
Bell has not commented on the incident.
April 2023: According to police, Drake Bell briefly goes missing and is found in Daytona Beach
After the Daytona Beach Police Department briefly reported Bell as “missing and endangered” on April 13, 2023, the star addressed the matter in a since-deleted message on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“You leave your phone in the car and don’t answer for the night and this?” he wrote.
A post on the police department’s Facebook page initially listed Bell as missing and said he had been seen last before 9 p.m. on April 12.
Later in the day, the department updated its post, writing, “At this time, we can confirm law enforcement officials are in contact and Mr. Bell is safe.”
The following week, Bell’s wife Janet Von Schmeling filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. The two share one son, Jeremy, who will turn 3 in April.
March 2024: Bell reveals he was sexually abused as a teen by his acting coach
In March 2024, in an Investigation Discovery documentary titled “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” Bell revealed that he had been sexually abused as a young teen by his former acting and dialogue coach.
In an interview for the documentary, Bell said that he had been the unidentified minor in the 2004 sexual assault conviction of Brian Peck. Court records show Brian Peck pleaded no contest to two charges — lewd act upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older and oral copulation of a person under 16.
At the time of the abuse, Bell was 15. Brian Peck, now 63, served more than a year in jail and was made to register as a sex offender.
Bell said the abuse was “extensive and it got pretty brutal.”
Brian Peck is not related to former “Drake and Josh” star Josh Peck. Brian Peck didn’t respond to TODAY.com’s March 2024 request for comment.