Drake Bell finds it "freeing" to speak about the abuse he endured from dialect coach Brian Peck when he was just 15.
Drake Bell finds it "freeing" to speak about the abuse he endured from Brian Peck.
The 37-year-old actor recently told of the "extensive and brutal" ordeal he had experienced at the hands of the dialect coach over the course of six months when he was 15 years old, and though opening up has left him "in the fire", he insisted the public scrutiny he has faced is "nothing compared to how [he] has felt in the past".
In a preview from his appearance on the 'Man Enough' podcast shared with People magazine, he said: "The more that I'm able to talk about it, and the more that I'm able to articulate my thoughts just for myself, in my own mind, there is a big weight that feels has been lifted and is freeing."
The 'I Found a Way' singer acknowledged the trauma will stay with him for the rest of his life, but he has sought help in "rehab", which also helped with his issues with "self-medicating" and behavioural changes sparked by the abuse.
He said: "[I] was not recognising myself. [I was acting] just so out of character for not just who I want to be or who I want the world to see me as but who I know I am and how I know myself."
Drake told how he had thought that he could "go down this path and that'd be the end of [his] story" or stand back up and "fight for what is important", including his family, his relationships, his family and "to finally be at pace".
In 2021, the 'Amanda Show' star was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty to attempted child endangerment and a misdemeanour charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles after allegedly sending inappropriate messages to a teenage girl in 2017.
Drake has now acknowledged there was a "power dynamic" in place and he "shouldn't have been texting her in the first place", and appealed to fans to "absolutely 100 percent stop" after it emerged the victim had been targeted on social media.
He said: "Do not go on the attack.
"That is not the best way. If you're feeling that that's a way to defend me or to be in my corner, that is not the correct way to go about that."
Instead he asked his followers to support him through "love and compassion" and by being there for "other survivors".
On the same day that Glastonbury welcomed back Margate's adopted sons, The Libertines, Margate itself put on it's very own Leisure Festival as it...
Sheffield's very own all girl group Pretty Fierce are still on a high after the recent release of their debut single - 'Ready For Me'.
Three nights before the end of his current tour Will Varley returned to his home town of Deal to delight a sold out crowd in The Astor Theatre.
With only a few days to go before Portsmouth based songstress and producer WYSE releases her new single, 'Belladonna', we caught up with her to find...
Colorado raised, Glasgow educated and Manchester based Bay Bryan is nothing if not a multi-talented, multi-faceted artist performing as both...
Former Marigolds band member Keelan Cunningham has rediscovered his love of music with his new solo project Keelan X.
Wiltshire singer-songwriter Luke De Sciscio, formally known as Folk Boy, is set to release is latest album - 'The Banquet' via AntiFragile Music on...
Electronic music pioneer and producer Annie Elise says that the release of her first EP - 'Breathe In, Breathe Out' feels "both vulnerable and...
On the streets of Los Angeles, people will do anything for fame. Sometimes, they'll turn...
An improvement on 2006's The Reef, this underwater adventure doesn't hold a candle to big...
When Frank Beardsley (DENNIS QUAID), a widower with eight children, runs into his high school...