‘Quiet on Set’: Devon Werkheiser Apologizes to Drake Bell For Mocking Docuseries
Devon Werkheiser, who starred in Nickelodeon’s Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, has apologized to Drake Bell for mocking the harrowing ID docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
On Tuesday, Werkheiser awkwardly joked about the abuse Bell suffered during a TikTok livestream with Ned’s co-stars Lindsey Shaw and Daniel Curtis Lee. In a video that has been subsequently posted to other social media platforms, Werkheiser jokes towards Lee who is off camera, “Daniel, we told you never to speak about that. Get back in your hole, Daniel, and give me your holes!”
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Realizing what he said, Werkheiser then attempts to correct himself. “Sorry, we shouldn’t joke about this. We really shouldn’t. Our set was not like that,” Werkheiser says in reference to the reported toxic and inappropriate behavior found on the Nickelodeon shows under the purview of producer Dan Schneider.
Werkheiser adds: “No, it’s fucking awful. The Drake Bell shit, that’s crazy to hear. That is fucked. And that never came out, which is really wild. Really wild.”
With the clip of Werkheiser’s comments going viral, Bell called him out on X, formerly Twitter. “Ned’s Declassless…this is wild…laugh it up guys…laugh it up… “Give me your h*les?!!” Really?!,” Bell tweeted.
After a great deal of backlash, Werkheiser, later on Tuesday, posted an apology on X. “So sorry to Drake. Gutted I hurt you,” Werkheiser tweeted along with a screenshot of a longer apology statement. “I was being an idiot today. No way around it. I feel horrible that my dumbass was even speaking about this without seeing it. I watched Quiet On Set tonight and am horrified by the gravity of what Drake and others shared. Truly heartbroken about what my fellow actors went through. I can’t believe they weren’t protected. I’m sorry for compounding any hurt,” the statement read.
In the four-part docuseries Quiet on Set, Bell, the star of the Nickelodeon show Drake & Josh, reveals the extensive sexual abuse he suffered from the age of 15 at the hands of dialogue coach Brian Peck and also reveals he provided anonymous testimony that led to Peck’s 2004 conviction for lewd conduct with a minor.
The docuseries also outlined the allegations of abuse and workplace toxicity from multiple Nickelodeon former child stars, crew and writers that occurred on the sets of Schneider’s many shows on the network.
After Quiet on Set aired, Schneider released an apology video, when he sat down with iCarly star BooG!E to address the allegations in the docuseries. “Watching over the past two nights was very difficult — me facing my past behaviors, some of which are embarrassing and that I regret. I definitely owe some people a pretty strong apology,” he said in the video, which THR shared exclusively. “When I watched the show, I could see the hurt in some people’s eyes, and it made me feel awful and regretful and sorry.”
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