Actor James Marsden and other stars reportedly wrote letters of support for convicted child molester and former Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck.
“I assure you what Brian has been through in the last year is the suffering of 100 men,” Marsden, who noted that he has known Peck since he was a teenager, wrote in his letter supporting the ex-Nickelodeon dialogue coach, according to a report by PEOPLE.
It remains unclear how much Marsden, and other stars who wrote letters of support, knew about the charges against Peck when they wrote their letters.
The letters if support reportedly surfaced in Investigation Discovery’s upcoming docuseries, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, which is set to air on March 17 and 18.
The docuseries examines the toxic culture of iconic children’s television shows in the 1990s and early 2000s, including many shows produced by Dan Schneider.
In Quiet on Set, Bell opens up about his experience working with Peck, who he says sexually abused him when he was a child working at Nickelodeon.
In 2004, after being arrested on 11 charges involving child sexual abuse, Peck pleaded no contest to performing a lewd act with an anonymous 14 or 15 year old, as well as to oral copulation with a minor under 16.
The former dialogue coach was then convicted of sexually abusing an unnamed Nickelodeon child actor, ordered to register as a sex offender, and was sentenced to 16 months in prison. For 20 years, it remained unclear who the unnamed Nickelodeon child actor was, until now.
Meanwhile, several well-known actors sent letters on Peck’s behalf to the judge, and some even attended his sentencing hearing, the docuseries reveals.
Interestingly, it is noted in Quiet on Set that neither Schneider nor any top Nickelodeon executives wrote letters in support of Peck.
Other stars who did write letters of support, however, included Boy Meets World stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong, who expressed regret for having done so in a recent episode of their podcast, Pod Meets World.
Friedle claims that Peck had “ingratiated himself” into his life, and that he had turned him “against the victim” by misrepresenting the charges.
“To look back at that and then him telling me what happened, and then instantly spinning it to where it wasn’t his fault, [that] it was clearly the fault of his victim, my initial instinct, because of the year’s I had been with him, was like, ‘Well, yeah, of course. It can’t be you,'” Friedle said.
“And I look back at that now as an adult, and it makes me want to cry that I ever was that naive,” the Boy Meets World star added.
Other actors revealed to have written letters of support in the docuseries reportedly included actor Alan Thicke, who died in 2016, Saturday Night Live alum Taran Killam, Growing Pains star Joanna Kerns, Twin Peaks actress Kimmy Robertson, and X-Men producer Tom DeSanto.
“I believe with all my heart that Brian was pressured and pushed beyond belief before he caved,” Robertson wrote in her letter of support, according to the documentary.
Killam, meanwhile, wrote, “I’ve seen the effects this situation has had on Brian and I know for a fact that he regrets any mistakes made,” the docuseries revealed.
In a statement shown in Quiet on Set, Kerns reportedly conveyed regret for writing her letter, saying, “I have now learned that my letter of support was based on complete misinformation,” adding, “Knowing what I know now, I would never have written the letter.”
A representative for DeSanto shared a statement from the producer with PEOPLE, which read, “Having dedicated a significant portion of my career to shedding light on systemic abuse and advocating for those without a voice. These experiences have profoundly shaped my understanding of responsibility and advocacy and is at the core of who I am.”
“My decisions at the time were based on incomplete information given to me, and I lacked full awareness of the gravity of the accusations,” DeSanto added. “With the knowledge and understanding I possess today, I want to personally apologize to Drake and his family and emphatically state that had I been fully informed of all the accusations, my support would have been absolutely withheld.”
“This situation underscores the critical importance of due diligence and the relentless pursuit of truth, especially when it comes to standing in solidarity with survivors of abuse,” DeSanto concluded.
In the docuseries, Bell also recalls becoming “pretty shocked” when he saw many recognizable faces in the courtroom during Peck’s sentencing, adding that his ex-coach’s side of the room was full.
The former Drake & Josh star said in Quiet on Set that he addressed everyone in the courtroom while giving a statement during Peck’s sentencing.
“I look at all of them and I just said, ‘How dare you?’ And I said, ‘You will forever have the memory of sitting in this courtroom and defending this person, and I will forever have the memory of the person you are defending violating me and doing unspeakable acts and crimes,'” Bell said.
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