Drake Bell takes aim at Nickelodeon as he lifts lid on Drake & Josh residuals
Drake Bell has revealed how he really feels about the children's TV network that boosted his career as a teenager with his Drake & Josh show in a new interview.
The actor, who has been candid about addressing the negative side of becoming a child actor, the apparent lack of residual payments, and alleged abuse, gave Nickelodeon a resounding negative comment when he appeared on N3on's YouTube channel.
The video, which was published this week on November 4, showed Bell talking about his life and career as he and the YouTuber ate at an American steakhouse restaurant.
There, Bell said he was paid for his time on Drake & Josh, which he starred in alongside Josh Peck and Miranda Cossgrove, weekly. But after the show ended in 2007, he said the money dried up.
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“You get a weekly cheque, and that’s it,” he said. “That’s it. Unfortunately, no residuals and all that kind of stuff.”
N3on then asked if this was 'normal' for actors to not continue to be paid when their shows are broadcasted after they end.
“No,” Bell said. “It’s not normal.”
When asked why, he then quipped: “Cause Nickelodeon sucks. Oh, can I not say that?”
He went on to say that the decision on who receives residuals comes on a contract-to-contract basis, as well as claiming that as a kid, it's hard to know what a good long-term deal looks like.
“You don’t sign the contract, well, the next kid that gets off the Greyhound bus from Wichita, Kansas, he’ll take the job. … There’s good and bad from it,” he added.
"It’s like, well, I have the opportunity to now do things that I love to do, and [it] opens doors, and I have fans."
Bell was a beloved actor for the company throughout the four-season run, and ultimately, it is the role he is most known for.
In the 2024 docuseries, Quiet on Set, Bell publicly detailed the sexual abuse he alleged to have occurred at the hands of a dialogue coach at the company.
He described his abuser as Brian Peck, a dialogue coach who worked on Nickelodeon's All That and The Amanda Show - he has no relation to the actor Josh Peck.
In August 2003, Brian Peck was arrested on 11 charges related to allegations that he'd sexually abused an unnamed child, and in May, 2004, he pleaded no contest to performing a lewd act with a 14-or-15-year-old, as well as oral copulation with a minor under 16.
Brian Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender in October 2004. At that time, the unnamed child was not named, but was later found to have been Bell, per the documentary.
In 2025, Bell and Josh Peck sat down to film an episode of the podcast, Good Guys, where Bell opened up about the abuse and his emotional state.
He explained that he felt comfortable on set with his fellow actors, but that Peck was the 'monster’ in his 'safe place'.
UNILAD has reached out to Paramount Press Express for comment.
Topics: Nickelodeon, Film and TV, Celebrity
Britt Jones
