Josh Peck Says Drake Bell’s Comments Led To Online Harassment

Josh Peck spoke about the status of his friendship with former Drake & Josh co-star Drake Bell. Peck said the two “weren’t that close” in a new interview on the podcast BFF, and he was blindsided by the online drama that ensued when he didn’t invite Bell to his wedding.

Peck said there was no ill intent in not inviting Bell to the wedding. “The dirty little secret, I guess, was like, I knew that Drake and I didn’t stay in touch for the 10 years since we made the show.” he said. “I was happy to just die with that secret that like, we made this thing that people really love, but maybe we weren’t that close. So I didn’t invite him to my wedding.”

When Peck married his wife, Paige O’Brien, Bell tweeted a couple of bitter remarks including “when you’re not invited to the wedding the message is clear…” and “loyalty is key.” In his first mention of the tweets publicly, Peck also added, “Cut to, I’m getting married that night and I see these text messages from him, like cursing me out, coming for me.”

He said that online harassment was also directed at O’Brien as a result of Bell’s behavior. “But here’s my wife, who’s like, getting torn down on the internet and I’m like, she’s private and she just got married,” Peck said indignantly. Even before a photographed hug between the two that got fans happy and excited, Peck was not in a hugging mood before that.

Peck joked that it “might be the most Sopranos thing I’ve ever done, I look at him and go, ‘Go apologize to my wife right now.'” He claimed Bell made a “beeline” to O’Brien but was unsatisfied with the apology, calling it “this whole five-minute performance of an apology.”

Bell’s wife, Janet Bell, lashed out against Peck in a since-deleted video. She said, “That’s actually hilarious that he would act like he could be the tough guy.” Janet added “We’ve talked multiple times since then. So like, you’re a f––king liar. A f––king liar, Josh.”

Following Drake & Josh, Peck found success filming online comedy skits on Vine and creating video blogs, and was also cast in a role alongside John Stamos in the sitcom Grandfathered, which Bell also appeared in for an episode.

Bell has continued acting and releasing music since the hit series ended. He has recently been dogged by several allegations of sexual abuse and having relationships with underage girls, one of which resulted in Bell being sentenced to probation for endangering a minor.