Daniel Curtis Lee, Devon Werkheiser, Lindsey Shaw, and Drake Bell. Instagram; Presley Ann/Getty Images
Former stars of Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide apologized for inappropriate comments seemingly made about Investigation Discovery’s four-part docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
Devon Werkheiser, Lindsay Shaw, Daniel Curtis Lee issued an apology via their podcast, “Ned’s Declassified Podcast Survival Guide,” on Friday, March 22, for an inappropriate joke made during a TikTok live when asked about the docuseries.
“If you haven’t seen the clip, if you haven’t seen what’s going on, we were on a TikTok Live being asked to comment on the Quiet on Set documentary, which we hadn’t seen, and a super s—t joke came out that was referenced at Daniel and looked like I was talking about Drake [Bell],” Werkheiser explained in the apology.
“We f—ked up,” he said. “I get it. We hadn’t seen the doc and everyone was asking us for our opinions on it.” The trio said they have since watched the docuseries, noting they had “no clue” about the “magnitude” of abuse Bell suffered at the hands of dialogue coach Brian Peck (who has no relation to Nickelodeon star Josh Peck).
Drake Bell spoke out about being sexually assaulted by Nickelodeon’s Brian Peck for the first time in the new docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. During the third part of the Investigation Discovery special, which will air on Monday, March 18, Bell, 37, identified himself as the child star who reported […]
“Now we have watched it … I get it,” Werkheiser added. “If I had just watched — especially that third episode — and then watched us joking like that, I would be like, ‘Are they sociopaths? Is something wrong with them?’”
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV aired on Sunday, March 17, and Monday, March 18, and examines the toxic work environment for child actors at Nickelodeon. Bell appears as the subject of two episodes, where he speaks about his experience with sexual abuse as a child star.
Devon Werkheiser, Lindsey Shaw Daniel and Curtis Lee. Courtesy of Ned’s Declassified Podcast Survival Guide/YouTube
The Ned’s Declassified alums were slammed online for appearing to make light of the abuse, with Bell himself calling them “Ned’s Declassless.” Werkheiser admitted that he “felt like a piece of s—t” after Bell’s comment, and apologized to him via social media earlier in the week.
Drake Bell has weathered multiple arrests, abuse allegations and more since his introduction into the spotlight as a child star. Bell rose to stardom after scoring several TV roles when he was younger. He made a name for himself following his time at Nickelodeon, which included hit projects such as All That, Drake & Josh, […]
“I know it looks like I’m laughing at this and I f—king wasn’t, but I know what it looks like, and that Drake saw it … yeah,” Werkheiser clarified on his podcast. “I just felt so f—king awful, knowing that Drake saw us in that context.”
Curtis Lee added that the “extreme” joke was not referring to Bell at all. Shaw, for her part, said she regretted her own “insensitivity” on the topic.
“I am sorry,” she explained. “I know that even when there wasn’t an intention or malice behind things people have done for me, I know that it has just helped me when people meet me where I am and recognize like, ‘Hey, that was a gut punch, whether it was intentional or not.’”
