Within the larger Drake Bell revelation there are numerous details that are similarly horrifying. Take, for instance, the fact that when Bell showed up to court he noticed that Brian Peck’s side of the courtroom was full of “recognizable faces.” As Bell puts it in the documentary, “Brian had been convicted but getting all of this support from a lot of people in the industry and I was pretty shocked.”
The truly shocking part comes with the revelation that multiple people within the industry wrote heartfelt letters of support for the convicted sex offender. Overall, there were 41 letters urging the judge to be lenient in his sentencing, from such high-profile individuals as actor James Marsden, Bell’s ex-“The Amanda Show” co-star and former “Saturday Night Live” star Tarran Killam, Ron Melendez, Alan Thicke, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle. It should be noted, however, that it’s not clear how much these individuals knew about the extent of Peck’s crimes at the time.
Since the documentary has premiered, several of these individuals have come forward to apologize. As Variety reported, Beth and Rich Correll, who directed episodes of “The Amanda Show,” “All That,” and “Drake & Josh,” have issued an extensive apology. Meanwhile, Strong and Friedle addressed the situation on their “Pod Meets World” podcast, with Strong claiming that Peck explained the whole thing as “‘I’m a victim of jailbait. There was this hot guy. I just did this thing, and he’s underage.'”
Still, for those who did write in support of Peck, it’s going to take a lot to move past this. If you want to witness the extent to which this particular revelation has reverberated, check the comments on some of these people’s latest Instagram posts…
