Drake Bell.Photo:Michael Tran/Getty
Michael Tran/Getty
The new episode,Breaking the Silence, delves “deeper into the toxic and dangerous culture” of some of the most iconic children’s television shows in the 1990s and 2000s, according to a network press release.
Breaking the Silencepremieres on April 7 and features interviews withDrake & JoshstarDrake Bell, as well as other former child actors from some of Nickelodeon’s hit shows from the early 2000s.
The new episode will build off “the revelations explored in the first four episodes” and include discussions with journalist Soledad O’Brien.
Brian Peck.Albert L. Ortega/Getty
Albert L. Ortega/Getty
The show also featured his father, Joe Bell, whoexpressed his concernsabout Peck. When Joe raised concerns, he claimed he was “ostracized” on set and “backed off.”
“I’m not the same today,” Joe told a producer through tears. “The pain’s still there from the moment that I knew. I don’t wish this on any parent or child whatsoever. It’s just devastating.”
In 2004, Peckpleaded no contestto a charge of oral copulation with a minor under 16 and performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old in connection with the case and spent 16 months in prison.
Dan Schneider.Eric Vitale/Getty
Eric Vitale/Getty
Jenny Kilgen, a writer onThe Amanda Showin 1999, alleged that Schneider “didn’t think women were funny,” showed pornography from his computer and pressured others to take part in uncomfortable activities — like allegedly asking a female writer to tell a story like she was being “sodomized” — as jokes.
All Thatalums Bryan Hearne and Giovonnie Samuels were also featured in the show and described their experiences working as some of Nickelodeon’s few young Black actors in the early 2000s.
Samuels, now 38, told PEOPLE that while working onAll Thatas a teenager,she was the sole Black actress not given a hairstylist. She also recalled being trained to avoid choking during a sketch that required drinking large amounts of fake coffee and sugar and felt like “waterboarding.”
“You’re always asking yourself, ‘Do I speak up?’ And if I do speak up, will I lose my job? Or do I just let it go?” Samuels told PEOPLE.
For more about the alleged toxic environment on the sets of Nickelodeon’s shows,subscribe now to PEOPLE, or pick up this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday.
Schneider, 58, left the networkin 2018after an internal investigation into his allegedly verbally abusive and demanding behavior on set. He has denied allegations of misconduct.
He responded to the series in a 20-minuteYouTube videowith BooG!e, who played T-Bo oniCarly, on March 19.
“Facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret,” the former Nickelodeon producer said. “I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology.”
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
source: people.com
