Drake Bell obtained social media sympathy from former Nickelodeon actor Devon Werkheiser, who walked again his jokes concerning the alleged sexual abuse the “Drake & Josh” star and different actors skilled on-set.
Werkheiser, star of “Ned’s Declassified,” supplied Bell an apology on X (previously Twitter) on Tuesday, writing that he was “gutted I damage you.” Days after the bombshell “Quiet on Set” docuseries premiered, a clip of Werkheiser seemingly poking enjoyable on the allegations of abuse and toxicity surrounding Dan Schneider and his units went viral.
“Get again in your gap Daniel, and provides me holes,” Werkheiser says within the video, “sorry we shouldn’t joke about this…Hear our set was not like that.”
He added: “It’s f— terrible, the Drake Bell s—….is loopy to listen to, that’s f—, man. And that by no means got here out, which is admittedly wild.”
Werkheiser, 33, and his “Ned’s Declassified Podcast Survival Information” co-hosts, together with former co-star Lindsey Shaw, shortly confronted backlash on X for “poking enjoyable on the abuse” different actors allegedly confronted on different Nickelodeon reveals. Whereas “Ned’s Declassified” aired on Nickelodeon, it was not produced by Schneider’s manufacturing firm, which oversaw different hits together with “iCarly,” “Victorious” and “All That.”
“They need to be standing beside their friends even when their set was completely different,” wrote one X consumer, “Yuck.”
Alexa Nikolas, a former “Zoey 101” star and advocate for survivors of sexual abuse, wrote, “actually unhappy and disturbing to see another Nick stars joking round and cracking jokes round youngster sexual abuse on tiktok.”
One other X consumer defended Werkheiser, writing that the giggly TikTok clip was the “Ned’s” stars’ “coping mechanism” and their solution to course of the revelations from “Quiet on Set.”
Bell, nevertheless, had his personal ideas: “Ned’s Declassless,” he tweeted on Monday, reposting Werkheiser’s clip.
“That is wild…laught it up guys…laught it up…,” he wrote. “‘Give me your h*les?!!’ Actually?!”
In “Quiet on Set,” Bell broke his silence on the alleged sexual abuse he confronted from Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck. Bell had labored with Peck on the set of “All That” and “The Amanda Present.”
Peck was convicted of kid abuse in 2004, however for years the sufferer’s id remained unknown. Bell stated within the docuseries that the dialogue coach “had just about labored his method into each side of my life.”
In response, Nickelodeon stated in an announcement, “we’re dismayed and saddened to study of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and assist the power required to come back ahead.”
Shortly after catching warmth from each social media followers and Bell, Werkheiser acknowledged the affect of his feedback and shared an announcement.
“I really feel horrible that my dumba— was even talking about this with out seeing it,” he wrote. “I watched Quiet on Set tonight and am horrified by the gravity of what Drake and others shared.”
He continued: “Really heartbroken about what my fellow actors went by. I can’t imagine they weren’t protected. I’m sorry for compounding any damage.”
Bell has not acknowledged Werkheiser’s apology.
Investigation Discovery’s four-part “Quiet on Set” renewed curiosity and intrigue for the controversies surrounding Schneider’s TV legacy. On Tuesday, the producer launched a virtually 20-minute video acknowledging the documentary and addressing a spread of allegations. Schneider denied that he employed Peck to his set and teared up as he recalled serving to Bell’s mom pen her speech for her testimony in opposition to the dialogue coach.
“That was in all probability the darkest a part of my profession,” he stated.
Schneider concluded his video detailing what he may have performed in another way on his units, from hiring a licensed therapist to advise younger expertise to altering “how I might deal with individuals and everybody.”
“Once I watched the [docuseries], I may see the damage in some individuals’s eyes and it made me really feel terrible, and regretful and sorry,” he stated. “I want I may return particularly to these earlier years in my profession and produce progress and the expertise that I’ve now and simply do a greater job.”