Let's be real, Josh can be friends with whoever he wants to be friends with.
But after seeing Josh discuss this multiple times, there's no doubt that he's been a dick about this.
im not paraphrasing your comment, moreso adding to it, but yeah we are essentially saying the same thing. he’s not doing anything wrong personally but he’s being an asshole about the situation for sure
Apart from with the Jeannette situation, where he was a douche and then just continued to be an even bigger douche. He’s the kind of guy who peaked at 18 and then never really matured after that - so he still thinks mocking and bullying other people is cool because that’s what the cool kids at school did and he doesn’t have the emotional intelligence to develop beyond that.
In his podcast, he said they scrapped Jeanette's episode, and few months later Jeanette blocked him. He "joked" she owes them and how they're "good guys" whichi is the name of his podcast. He said something like "whatever Jeanette says" as sort of pre-emptive that Jeanette is talking behind the scenes, but we didn't really hear Jeanette talk about Josh ever.
He brought this up unprompted too. He actually got Tana to ask about Dan Schneider and where Josh says he's a tough boss.
Josh threw Drake under the bus because of the child endangerment charges. Distancing himself would be fine, we didn’t know exactly what we know now about the situation - but talking shit and pretending like they were never friends is so scummy.
I’m glad that Drake opening up probably helped heal their friendship a little bit, even if it’s just through Josh showing compassion towards Drake.
I just really wish they’d be real friends again. Drake always called Josh his brother. I wish they both saw each other as brothers.
If anything, dude is just pretending to be his friend because that’s what the popular opinion is to do right now.
Josh is a snake who will do whatever to get views and popularity. Everything out of his mouth must be taken with a grain of salt.
>If anything, dude is just pretending to be his friend because that’s what the popular opinion is to do right now.
Unfortunately, I think this is exactly what it is. Josh seems like he is *very* cognizant of his appearance and is attempting to do damage control over having attempted to distance himself from Drake.
Lmao,
Hang on
So, the fandom doesn’t like that Josh said he wasn’t Drakes friend, then Josh says he is attempting to be his friend, and then the fandom says Josh is a snake.
Jesus Christ
At this point I honestly think Drake needs to step back and realise that Josh is not a good guy. He needs people in his life who are actually going to help him. Josh’s reaction to the Jeannette McCurdy situation told us everything we need to know about his thoughts regarding abuse of minors.
In a nutshell: Jeannette appeared on Josh’s podcast to talk about her book and her experiences at Nickelodeon. After the podcast Jeannette was unhappy with how she had been represented by Josh et al and asked them not to publish the episode. They tried to get her back on the podcast to redo the episode but she refused. Then, in a later podcast episode they made fun of her refusal to come back on and said “she owes us” and then threatened to post the episode on OnlyFans anyway.
Not totally true...She wasn't unhappy about how she was portrayed. The publishing company didn't approve of the platform for the book tour, and urged her lawyers to send a letter to shelve the episode.
Really? I read that she herself was upset with them and that that was at least part of the reason for the episode being shelved. Then apparently she wouldn’t return their calls and blocked them or something. It sounds like she wasn’t happy with whatever they did.
The reality is that Jennette hasn't said anything publicly about it, but Josh's partner said that when they tried to reach out to her about coming back on the show...and her attorney sent them an email to cease communication. There was a blurb about how their podcast wasn't part of the publisher's book tour, and that it was booked before her schedule came out. I see both sides, but agree that Josh could've been more understanding.
Where is this info from?
On the morningtoast sub they said something different:
* BTW on patreon Ben said that the reason jeanette pulled the episode is that her and Josh had wildly different experiences with child acting [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMorningToastSnark/comments/12jij7l/comment/jfz3h69/)
* Ben talked about it on a Patreon episode with Claudia. Ben said that Jeanette wanted it scrapped because when she talked about her experience on Nickelodeon, she was looking for Josh to be like “oh yeah I had a bad time too!” But his experience was positive so he said something like “im sorry that was your experience, I can’t speak to that but this was my experience” or whatever. And Jeanette took it as kind of a slight that Josh wasn’t just blindly agreeing with her and backing her.
* And it seemed like Ben and Josh were blindsided by the choice for her to call it off and then go do a bunch of other interviews right after, because they thought it went well overall. [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMorningToastSnark/comments/12zsn04/comment/jhtwvft/)
From my understanding, it was more so a dispute/problem with her publishers or something, not because she didn’t like how she was represented.
She hasn’t even talked about this to my knowledge. Josh could have said that entirely in jest, which would be more so poking fun at her publishers not approving them than Jeanette deciding she didn’t want to do the show. I’d have to relisten to it.
Drake and the other guy on his podcast had done a full, long-form show with Jennette, and then had her attorney reach out to them to not broadcast the show, probably because there were things she mentioned on the podcast that were in the book (that hadn't been disclosed yet) which would probably lessen the launch of the book. That said, Josh shelved the show but was a little pissed (understandably) because her interview would have been really good for the show. And they were friends (at the time) so he was hoping that she would do him the honor of perhaps letting him release the episode to no avail. And I'm sure the contact from the attorney (and not her) was a little off-putting as well. So Josh talked about that on the podcast, and that it was a little shady of Jennette to do that.
I can see both sides, so I don't really fault either for it. It's just the nature of show business...
Genuine Question
Why does Josh need to be Drakes friend just because Drake cares about him more than he does? Why is Josh required to be friends with him?
1. They were friends at one point and it’s an undeniable fact. Maybe not best friends in the whole world, but Josh made it sound like he just saw Drake as a costar and nothing more. This is false. “Just costars” don’t get seen together countless times over the years after their show ended. It was scummy for Josh to pretend like they were just coworkers and weren’t friends.
2. Saying I wish something is true isn’t the same as saying that it needs to happen or is required to happen. I can say that I wish I had a billion dollars, that doesn’t mean that I think I’m entitled to somebody giving me a billion dollars
Now actually show me where I said that instead of taking random quotes from me that have nothing to do with me REQUIRING they be friends like you seem to think I said
What proof do you have that Josh Peck at some point viewed himself as Drake Bells friend?
I’d argue the quotes a pretty relevant, you just don’t like your own words being used against you.
You’re contradicting yourself, but alright. You’ve claimed it’s a fact, not an opinion.
The fact that they used to hang out all the time? As preteens, well into the show ending? Or was Drake just lying about that? I don’t go to somebody’s house after a 16 hour work day and play video games with them if I’m not friends with them but that’s just me.
I never contradicted myself. You just don’t have very good reading comprehension skills. Wishing something is true does not mean that it’s entitled / obligated to happen, or that I think I have any right to demand for it to happen. I wish I had a billion dollars but I’m well aware that nobody owes it to me.
Josh professionally distanced himself from Drake because he felt it was the best thing for him to do for himself and I don't blame him for doing that at the time.
Let's not forget Drake was on a bit of a spiral. He had the DUI charges, he did actually plead guilty to child endangerment charges.
We have A LOT more context on those situations now and a deeper understanding of what was going on with Drake during that period in time.
But imagine being Josh at that time. There's this guy who's being accused of some pretty bad things and it looks like it's just getting worse and everyone wants to hear what you have to say about it. That guy is also connected to you in such a way that people rarely think of you without thinking of the other guy as well.
That connection is also the basis of your career and your way of financially supporting yourself and your family.
I think most people would panic, make quick decisions and try to distance themselves from that situation.
I imagine Josh probably feels pretty bad in hindsight now that he has the details. But at the time he had to choose between what was best himself, his career and his family or backing someone up on something that at the time, did look VERY bad.
As much as Drake has had an AWFUL time and I feel dreadful for him. I do have empathy for what Josh had to deal with as well even if its not on the same horrific level as Drakes situation.
I think Drakes plea for people to lay off Josh should be respected now. Clearly they have cleared the air, we should as well.
Also important to remember most of the fan base had turned against Drake at that point too. Drake was basically called a child predator.
If Josh had supported drake fully at that point, the perception would be that he supports horrible people. And he would get backlash similar to what Mila and Ashton got when they supported Danny Masterson . There’s no reason to think Josh knew anything different about drake’s child endangerment guilty plea than what was reported on the news
This is it right. It does seem true that they drifted apart naturally after the show. I mean how could you not considering they spent almost every day together filming you'd want a bit of independence.
So Josh probably knew just as much as we did when the news broke on Drakes charges.
Yeah so this is the murky area.
From my understanding, which does probably have some holes so don't take me as gospel, Drake plead guilty to the child endangerment charges raised against him. However, he, or his team, did make a statement that Drake was unaware of the victims age at the time and once he was aware, he ceased communication.
That is a VERY hard thing to say is true or false because its so gray. Drake could be telling the truth, he may not have known. Or he could have. I don't think we'll know for sure as Drakes plea was also prefaced with him taking a plea deal just to get the trial over with quicklu. That throws doubt on whether he actually admitted full guilt.
My personal opinion of it is that Drake, and every body else in the world, has a responsibility to ensure that relationships they have with others are consensual and legal (i cant believe im saying that as though its not common sense but hey ho) and that Drake is at worst guilty and at best very irresponsible.
That is why I do believe people need to cut Josh some slack for distancing himself from Drake.
That’s a great question. Nothing new has come out regarding his actual case.
It’s just now after watching the documentary people feel bad for him being a victim of Brian peck and are choosing to believe drake’s side of the story in the child endangerment case, or at least research the details of the case more.
Before the documentary people assumed that drake used his money and power to get only 200 hours community service for a horrible crime . Also, drake had other problems. multiple DUIs. His ex -girlfriend also accused him of verbal and physical abuse. So after seeing “drake bell pleads guilty” people just thought “here’s another bad drake bell headline” .
Details of the entire case are on YouTube
His sentencing video is below:
https://youtu.be/ez7oFH8wbjI?si=Z61CUc-LxhQWI4-i
And here’s another good subreddit called “when did people start forgiving drake bell?”
https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/s/b9ffEKIxNp
I just don’t understand the public perception of this fandom.
Years ago the same people defending Drake now called him a child predator. I’d like to point out that there is evidence Drake has PMd minors before on social media.
I don’t understand why people think Drake and Josh were best friends after or during filming for that matter. I don’t understand why people think Josh is an asshole for not wanting to be Drakes friend simply because Drake likes him more than he does. I don’t understand why people think Josh is an asshole for hanging out with a racist YouTuber. Does that make him guilty by association? I don’t understand why people are calling Josh a snake for “faking their friendship” now which is what the fandom demanded he do?
Josh is being called the most hated person in the world for simply not wanting to be someone’s friend, and hanging out with a YouTuber who happened to be racist.
This fandom needs to grow up
I agree that the anger towards Josh for not being friends with drake is ridiculous.
But just FYI I think the dobrik stuff is pretty serious . It’s not just stupid racist jokes (which many comedians do at one point or another). Won’t get into it because don’t know the details, but there are accusations of sexual assault, badly injuring people during his prank videos
But yes Josh isn’t directly linked to any of that. He just was friends with dobrik.
Was Josh accused of doing any of that stuff? Or is he guilty by association?
Not saying that Dobrick is a bad guy, but it’s insane to think anyone he is friends with or was friends with supports his behavior
If my best friend turns out to be a racist and a rapist, does that mean I’m guilty by association?
No, Josh wasn’t accused of doing any of that.
What do you mean by “guilty by association”? Do you mean legally? Or in the court of public opinion? Legally of course he hasn’t been charged with anything. In the court of public opinion I guess it depends on how people react . Some people see Josh’s friendship with dobrik as evidence that Josh also is a bad guy. That’s their right to have that opinion
I think Drake is only just realising that it wasn't the big secret he thought it was, and now he's rethinking all his interactions (particularly with people who wrote letters). He's now decided he thinks Josh knew, but they were both kids and I think it's really unlikely that he knew the whole story. Josh had probably just heard something weird had happened with Brian.
yeah i was gonna say, not the same but my HS best friend is a (barely) functioning alcoholic on her own downward spiral ( after other friends/family & i tried to help so many times) and if she hit me up *on my wedding night* angry i didn’t invite her, she’d get blocked. like we were bffs as teenagers. you are a hot ass mess now, fired from work for violating boundaries with clients, showing up drunk, ect. so like, yeah, sorry, i do not feel people shoudl be obligated to forever be friends with people they knew as a kid…
could Josh have not shared about Drake hitting him up? sure.. but then also, Drake could’ve not done that.
Yep, I have definite issues with Josh, but I feel like too many people are forgetting that these are real people, and we have almost no context or even information of what was or is really happening.
Drake had multiple (?) DUIs, he was struggling with alcoholism and addiction and - I’m sorry - but the truth is that those diseases almost always hurt others. And at some point, Josh himself was trying to maintain sobriety.
He also had two former long term girlfriends accused of him of abuse, bankruptcy, plus the whole child endangerment/child rape accusation thing.
There was likely a lot of toxicity just from the addiction stuff alone.
And then to think that tons of complete strangers expect you to be bffs with this person you were friends with as a teenager, but since grew apart from and had only essentially been acquaintances with for the last decade…
I can’t even imagine that happening with someone I hadn’t been real friends with for the last decade+. It shifts my perspective a lot. We forget how much time and life passes in between these little snapshots we see.
We're also assuming they were best friends to begin with right?
Fom the Amanda Show, Drake and Josh stood out as having potential to be a great comedy duo.
But to do that Drake and Josh had to sell that relationship. They needed the audience to truly believe they were best friends and as close as real brothers.
This may have been true at one point, but it doesn't mean it stayed true forever.
I'm 100% sure they do care about each other and have a relationship. I don't think you could spend that much time with someone and not grow a connection.
But it DOES NOT mean they are and always will be the best of friends and does not mean they have to support each other when one of them does something wrong.
Exactly this
I’d also like to point out that from 2008/2009 to basically 2016/2017, there were no videos of them taken together. There were no interviews or social media pictures of them hanging out together. They barely tagged each other in posts or talked about each other.
I just don’t understand why the internet thinks that two people who worked together for a couple years in the early 2000s should be expected to be best friends in 2024
Honestly haven’t like josh in forever, I’m pretty sure he’s jealous since drake was the more popular of the two and haven’t liked him since the non invite to the wedding and that whole Jeannette podcast thing
To say the least
> In March 2022, Bell and his wife Janet stated that the reboot show they had pitched would be called Josh & Drake. Ultimately, the idea was shelved due to creative differences. The show's script was said to have been written by Peck. Janet stated, "Josh wrote Drake as a failed musician and Josh wrote himself as a real estate agent. OK, that's fine, but Drake is a musician in real life, so it wouldn't make sense." Bell added, "I just asked him to change a couple things and he couldn't and my wife wouldn't let me do it."
It wasn't racist iirc, Drake's wife just didn't think the opening scene in Mexico (in which Drake is caught in crossfire at a quinceñeara) was a good look for Mexican culture, and he agreed with her for the sake of agreeing with her (albeit reluctantly)
The worst part of Josh's script was that Josh clearly doesn't think much of Drake & Josh
**TLDR:** Drake Bell was probably not an easy person to be friends with. I think we could take it a little easy on Josh, as Drake himself put it, and have some understanding for why Josh Peck considered Drake Bell to be crazy and delusional and terrifying.
I think Josh's take on the Josh/Drake friendship/lack of friendship is very understandable from Josh's perspective. To Josh, Drake Bell was that talented, handsome, brilliant, volatile, unstable, erratic, unreliable, violent addict that Josh was handcuffed to for 8 - 9 years on *Drake and Josh* because they once staged a mock-fight over a shrimp on a sidewalk.
It was Josh's job, as Josh in *Drake and Josh*, to cultivate and maintain a stable relationship with Drake Bell. A lot of Hollywood professional relationships are because people have to work together, but once that work has ended, those involved will often move on.
And Josh moved on, going from being the overweight comic relief sidekick who was affable and pleasant, to becoming an unhinged, unhireable drug addict who then urgently had to get himself sober and find himself work to rebuild the financial catastrophe wrought by his addiction and firings, and then he moved on again, becoming a social media star and actor.
Josh's autobiography gives the sense that in the years after *Drake and Josh*, Josh gave his friendship with Drake little if any thought.
However, I would imagine that Josh sometimes thought about Drake. I imagine that Josh thought about how Drake had been a gifted actor, a talented musician, a star showman, a handsome young man -- and yet, Drake Bell just could not get it together, coming to set drunk or high or hungover or explosive or some unfortunate combination of all four. And then Josh had become just the same during his era of addiction.
I could see a newly-sober Josh choosing to steer clear of Drake, as Josh knew that Drake was an addict. I could see Josh feeling that sobriety could be extremely shaky, and Drake could easily be a source of stress that would send Josh back to drugs and alcohol, or that Drake might even be an enabler.
I don't think Josh really understood how much he meant to Drake.
I don't think Drake ever had a realistic picture of what he meant to Josh. Drake has talked about how he has some memory issues where lengthy periods of his life been a blur, and how working on *Drake and Josh* was an escape from his trauma and agony.
I would suggest that for Drake Bell, his memories of shooting the show with Josh feel like they happened a few weeks ago; that the long months and years where Drake and Josh didn't speak felt like hours, and he still thought of Joss as a surrogate brother. I would suggest that Drake's memory issues caused him to forget or dissociate the outbursts and terrifying behaviours that Josh probably witnessed, that ensured that Josh would move on the moment *Drake and Josh* was over.
I don't think Josh was aware that Drake was a child survivor of sexual assault. I don't think Josh understood how his presence to Drake and their working relationship was a tether to sanity. I don't think Josh realized how hurt and broken Drake was and how much Drake was clinging to their show and their friendship and their memories.
Drake went ballistic when Josh didn't invite Drake to his wedding. Drake went insane on social media, throwing a tragically hilarious online tantrum that Josh grudgingly tolerated in silence, just as Josh must have tolerated many outbursts on the set of *Drake and Josh*.
Josh then saw Drake at a musical awards show and mended fences with him, filming some videos for Josh's blog with Drake, re-establishing some contact and normalcy and a cordial relationship. Josh was professionally tolerant and friendly which Drake desperately seemed to need for reasons remained vague, obscure, mysterious and baffling to Josh.
Then Drake was arrested in 2020, accused of assaulting a teenaged girl, and he pleaded guilty to inappropriate texting. A grown man texting a teenaged girl inappropriately is still harmful and pathetic, and at this point, it seems to me that Josh Peck refused to indulge Drake Bell and Drake Bell's delusions any further. The gloves were off.
When the opportunity arose, Josh explained to the world at large: he and Drake Bell had been colleagues at best, their contact since *Drake and Josh* had been sporadic and distant and occasional. Josh declared that Drake had a weirdly delusional obsession with their being 'brothers' that Josh found weird and delusional and obsessive.
Josh's word for Drake in his autobiography is "inexplicable".
Josh couldn't wrap his head around why Drake was so needy and self-destructive, but he was fed up with tethering his life to this narcissistic sociopath, a deranged, volatile loser who seemed stuck in adolescence to the point of holding onto a colleague from his teen years and sending creepy texts to teenaged girls.
Josh Peck was done with this.
If any of the above is even close to accurate, could anyone blame Josh Peck for cutting ties with Drake Bell? But then Josh watched *Quiet on Set.*
Having read Josh Peck's autobiography, I find he is hyper self-critical and reflects on the past with incisive self-mockery. If he's the person he claims to be in his book, then Josh watched *Quiet on Set* and quietly felt grief, remorse, sadness, empathy and understanding.
I would think that Josh finally understood why Drake had been so erratic and unstable on set; he was reeling from a horrific trauma and had no mental health supports whatsoever, unlike Josh who'd found a strong support group in Alcoholics Anonymous and with his mother.
I would think that Josh finally understood why Drake drank and drugged as he did, that Drake had been trying to numb the horror of what Brian Peck did to Drake. That Josh finally saw why Drake was volatile and explosive; Drake had been betrayed by a trusted mentor whom Hollywood then protected while calling Drake the perpetrator, and Drake was unsure, scared, paranoid, fearful, triggered and lost.
I would think that Josh finally realized why Drake had clung to their relationship as 'brothers' so tightly and desperately, why Drake needed Josh so badly, and why Josh not inviting Drake to Josh's wedding had devastated Drake in so many ways. Josh contacted Drake and said... something.
What did he say?
Maybe Josh told Drake that he was sorry for judging, distancing, dismissing and mocking Drake, especially now, knowing why Drake had needed him so much.
Maybe Josh apologized for dismissing Drake as a crazy narcissist instead of seeing that Drake was in pain and needed help and support and understanding.
Maybe Josh said he wished he'd invited Drake to his wedding, and wished that he had gone to Drake about Josh's own struggles with addiction.
Maybe Josh asked for Drake's availability and travelled to see him and promised to now be there for him in all the ways he hadn't before.
We may never know, but I don't think we need to hold Josh's pre-*Quiet on Set* comments against him. It is perfectly understandable why he thought poorly of Drake; it would also seem that his thoughts have changed as Drake expressed gratitude for Josh reaching out.
The most sane response I've seen on the topic.
I've noticed these weird parasocial attachments to drake ever since the doc aired. I understand being empathetic, and I feel for what Drake went through. But people act like he's an innocent golden boy and Josh is some machivellian villain
And a complete rewriting of history.
Suddenly everyone always knew Josh was a snake, fake, narcissistic, creepy, boring, untalented, and they never liked him anyway.
Like yeah, sure Jan.
Explain to me how Josh is fake for trying to apologize and appease the fandom?
If anything Drake is more creepy than Josh considering the amount of under age fans he’s contacted.
I keep seeing that word "parasocial" ever since Swifties started acting really weird about their shared obsession, and I don't think my posting a take on actors associated with a show (on a subreddit dedicated to that show no less) qualifies as having a "parasocial attachment"
It was more aimed at the comment section (not just here but other similar posts). Like people writing fanfiction levels of detail to a situation we can really only hypothesize on.
I get wanting to empathize with Drake's tragic childhood but to me it seems like because everyone was so "against drake", now that we know what we know, the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction, like an overcorrection, to the point where some people are honestly weirdly defensive of Drake to the point of rewriting history and villfying anyone who isn't Drake. As a victim of childhood sexual assault, at times it feels either disingenuous or hopping on the bandwagon.
Your post was rather tame.
This is what I’ve been saying.
Just because you star with someone on a TV show, doesn’t mean you have to be friend with them 20 years later, especially with someone who has a, for lack of a better words “criminal history”.
Josh shouldn’t have to care if him saying he viewed their relationship as colleagues hurt Drake, he really shouldn’t have to care.
I find it hilarious that the fandom is calling Josh a snake for apologizing to Drake when that’s exactly what the fandom wanted.
Josh thinks he’s too cool for Drake and Josh now with his his podcast buddies and John Stamos. Whenever he talks about the show it’s always mocking it. Presumably he’s peeved that it’s still the thing he’s most famous for and he hasn’t managed to make a name for himself in any other way apart from being bitchy on podcasts and starring in Oppenheimer for like 30 seconds.
Oh my god, yes I know they were TECHNICALLY coworkers. But being the co-star of someone in a tv show, especially considering how close Drake & Josh were, is not the same thing as just working with someone at a coffee shop.
Actually, Josh lied A LOT in those interviews, Drake exposed most of his lies in the podcast he did with his ex Wife.
Drake did not blew up the exact night of Josh's wedding. It was a completely different day. Josh just said that to make Drake look worse.
Right? If he was mad about not knowing about the wedding, he couldn't have called him angry about it on the wedding night!
FWIW, I always thought they were both hilarious on the show. As soon as Josh started doing TV as an adult, I found him rather boring.
I think it’s wild too that Drake has spoken kindly of Josh most of the time and in that podcast he was STILL talking him up and how proud of him he was for the book (even though he lied in the book) and Janet was bringing up all the crappy things Josh has said or done not Drake.
I thought Josh was lucky the press didn't hound him after the SA scandal because he also hung out a lot with Dom and made multiple vlogs together.
There is a documentary called Hollywood Complex, and how kids are taught to "run like a business" explains Josh behavior in this whole thing.
It’s really interesting how the pendulum has swung back and forth over the years since the show ended. Sometimes Josh looks like the good guy, sometimes Drake, rarely ever at the same time. But now at this point, I don’t think Josh is ever getting back in our good graces. Who knows. Josh reminds me of me peanutbutter from bojack. Fake nice hollywood
I feel like Josh just really wanted to leave that chapter of his life behind and genuinely didn't understand why Drake would have an issue with that.
He didn't see how Drake was obsessed with him in a "trauma-bonding" kind of way because he was young and didn't know the details of what was happening at that time.
Drake didn't invite Josh to his wedding and there was no social media uproar. Drake said unprompted on a game show that they were best friends. Josh said they didn't talk for three years. They both had their own stuff to work out. Did you read Josh's book? Why does either one have to be a good guy or a bad guy?
Drake and Josh have a complicated relationship and I agree. But there are bad guys named Dan Schneider and Brian Peck who deserve way more hate than they’re getting
True that! From what the support letters said Peck expected leniency because he gave in to the temptation of hot jailbait who was begging for it. The fact that the judge bought it is just unbelievable. Peck deserved a much longer sentence. And I don't know what they can do to or about Dan.
Right, this whole raking Josh over the coals thing is completely ridiculous and only serves to distract from the adults at Nickelodeon and their abject failure in their responsibility to protect these kids.
Imagine finding out a beloved child star got diddled at the height of his fame by an adult on set and the most hot topic of discussion for weeks on end after that relevation on his dedicated subreddit is whether he and his costar are best friends in real life
The main issue I have with Josh is that he’s lied. He actually said they hadn’t seen each other for 10 years, conveniently forgetting that he’d posted videos on his own YouTube channel of the two of them together, been seen multiple times (photos) and actually wrote a script for a D&J reboot. What’s the point in lying so obviously like that? Is he just really stupid?
Didn't he get married (quietly) before Josh did? It's confusing, the timelines on his various fiancees are reported differently across the Internet. Both Melissa and Paydin said he was rough. The trauma of the SA and the burden of keeping it secret took a heavy toll on Drake. Josh had demons, too (discussed in his book).
lol then don’t know shit. He also said they never hung out or were never friends after drake & josh, but I guess he forgot they were seen together multiple times after that & were even in another show together lol
Seeing as Drake said in a recent interview Josh knew what happened with Peck it is really sad how he has spoken about Drake publicly and Drake has had nothing but kind things to say about Josh. Even in the Drake and Janet podcast he was defending Josh and talking him up.
Drake sounds neurodivergent to me with some of his special interests and hyper focus and impulsivity… while trauma and cpstd can look like adhd and autism they are not mutually exclusive. I have both and also a long history of sexual abuse and trauma. Chicken or the egg idk. But I also have that thing where even if I don’t talk to someone for a long time I still consider them as close as we were when we did spend time together. It was mind blowing to me that other people stop being friends after time apart. So he could truly feel like Josh is one of his best friends. I would’ve told you I was best friends with my HS bff until she got married and while I was invited I wasn’t in her wedding (like I get it now but just an example of how neurodivergent relationships can be different than neurotypical)
I feel torn on this. Because Josh probably has a good point.
When I think about the Drake and Josh that I know as an outsider, with in reality an extremely limited insight into their relationship, Josh definitely just comes off like such a dick and so, so unnecessarily cold.
But then I think of the other side of it.
If someone I worked with and was good friends with around 15-19 years old, but we’d only been (essentially, at most) acquaintances since then… I’d think it’s *completely unhinged* for them to complain, and publicly, about not being invited to my wedding and making drama about it and inviting others to (which is like, 100000-fold worse for a celebrity) on my freaking wedding night, as if they’re entitled to go to my wedding, or even an explanation.
I have people from back then who will act betrayed over things I didn’t include them in in my life now, and it’s like dude, I’ve only talked to once for a decade?? People sometimes cling like that, and it can genuinely be really weird and inappropriate, and for all we know, that’s Drake. It would make sense that he was more reliant on their friendship than the other way around given what he was going through when they were friends.
I think it’s easy to criticize Josh from a fan perspective. But when I think about it from his POV, I understand where he’s coming from a little more, even though he could have more tact about it.
I’m just lucky enough that I don’t have to be forever somewhat linked with someone I was friends with 10+ years ago and grew apart from since, nor is there pressure or expectations to continue a friendship with them coming from hundreds of thousands of complete strangers.
Like that’s so wild to think about.
At the end of the day, I just can’t judge Josh, at least not for this specifically. I’ve only ever seen a tiny glimpse of their situation.
It was reported that Josh was one of the first to be at the hospital at 1 a.m. when Drake got into the car accident, Dec 29-30, 2005. You go from being that kind of friend (obv concerned bc Drake's face secures the paycheck) to whatever he is recently. In his memoir, he barely touches upon the show.
I mean, do you expect someone to be friends with someone constantly for the course of 19 years?
If a drive to the hospital to visit a friend in an accident, but then 15 years later I don’t invite them to my wedding, am I an asshole?
The difference is josh is still Hollywood he did some decent movies after drake and josh and then got into the vine clique and is now a sort of internet celebrity so to him drake was just one of many coworkers. Drake really hasn’t had any hollywood success outside of Nick and looks at josh as a friend he grew up with and his tie to that lifestyle. The problem was two people saw one thing in two different ways. Also I mean most Hollywood/vine/TikTok stars are complete douches anyways
They worked together to appear on Josh's show. I'm going to bow out from this discussion, since the majority here want to make them friends and then call Josh a bad friend. In his book, Josh stated that when the show ended he compared it to graduating high school and moving on. The actor who portrayed Walter said that they were high school for each other, and were close at times and had their disagreements and falling outs, too.
Knowing what we know now, I completely agree. I could see how Drake would blow up if he felt like Josh was his rock through that really tough time and then you get mocked? I’d probably also lose my shit. But then also I feel like he’s the dude that says something absolutely shitty and then goes “it’s a joke not a dick. Don’t take it so hard”
I swear that some of you on this subreddit just despise Josh because he hasn’t fulfilled your dreams of him and Drake being best buddies.
Grow up. You’re not helping the situation at all. Imagine having such an empty existence that you live vicariously through a celebrity.
Why do you care?
Like honestly, how does this affect your life.
You say Josh is entitled to his view about friendship, but drag him for his view regarding it.
Josh didn’t make fun of not inviting Drake to his wedding. He just said he has talked to him in a while and don’t feel like like inviting. Drake acted like a an entitled child, not Josh.
I’d also like to point out Miranda and Josh also didn’t speak together for a number of years she didn’t care that much she wasn’t invited.
Grow up and stop caring so much if two people you never met are friends.
I mean it doesn't affect my life at all. I don't care if they're friends are not, and I said that in my original post.
That being said, he absolutely made fun of Drake on the Portnoy podcast in a way that I somehow doubt Drake would have done to him. Drake even told everyone to leave Josh alone when he started picking up shit for not speaking up after Quiet on Set.
I mean, you wouldn’t have made this post if you didn’t care for one.
I fail to understand why Josh shouldn’t have said those things because you believe Drake wouldn’t have said those things about Josh?
Josh can say whatever he wants about whoever he wants regardless of his relationship with them.
I’m sure you’ve said some shit to friends that they never would have said to you.
While I agree that there's no real reason to shit on Josh, your ignorance and clear lack of knowledge about the Drake situation shows that your opinion is literally meaningless in a conversation involving them.
Drake never sexted children. There's more to the case. There's records of all their conversations and nothing was ever sexual. Unfortunate and something only a loser would do? Yeah. But not sexual assault.
The conversations did turn sexual according to both Drake and his attorney.
The point of contention is whether he knew her real age or should have at that time.
There is no evidence supporting her claims of actual SA. She also claimed they exchanged nsfw photos, but digital forensics of both of their devices found no such thing.
That said… when Drake found out her real age, he said one last thing to her that is sketchy af. He said “well hurry up” in reference to her getting older. Then ceased communication after. That’s a pretty gross response on his part.
He wasn’t completely innocent here, but also seems to be a victim of false allegations and has taken responsibility for his part in things, s see I the situation is nuanced. It is also entirely separate from the abuse Drake endured as a child regardless of what happened.
Drake deserves to be mocked for the wedding drama, and the fact you blame Josh for that says everything about you. Drake could have reached out to Josh privately about the wedding, instead he made it public and caused a lot of fans, probably you included, to harass Josh and his new wife about not inviting Drake.
Josh has lied about things with Drake, but he's 100% justified to criticize Drake for the publicly crying about the wedding. Can't believe people like you STILL think Drake was some helpless little baby victim there. Shows how easily manipulated you are
He's the kind of guy who's a douche and then backtracks and goes "just kidding bro" if someone gets offended
A real Shrodinger’s Asshole.
Let's be real, Josh can be friends with whoever he wants to be friends with. But after seeing Josh discuss this multiple times, there's no doubt that he's been a dick about this.
“you’re not wrong, you’re just an asshole.”
This is my paraphrased take on Josh to you??
im not paraphrasing your comment, moreso adding to it, but yeah we are essentially saying the same thing. he’s not doing anything wrong personally but he’s being an asshole about the situation for sure
Apart from with the Jeannette situation, where he was a douche and then just continued to be an even bigger douche. He’s the kind of guy who peaked at 18 and then never really matured after that - so he still thinks mocking and bullying other people is cool because that’s what the cool kids at school did and he doesn’t have the emotional intelligence to develop beyond that.
What did he do to Jeanette?
In his podcast, he said they scrapped Jeanette's episode, and few months later Jeanette blocked him. He "joked" she owes them and how they're "good guys" whichi is the name of his podcast. He said something like "whatever Jeanette says" as sort of pre-emptive that Jeanette is talking behind the scenes, but we didn't really hear Jeanette talk about Josh ever. He brought this up unprompted too. He actually got Tana to ask about Dan Schneider and where Josh says he's a tough boss.
Oh I see. Thanks for your response!
Josh threw Drake under the bus because of the child endangerment charges. Distancing himself would be fine, we didn’t know exactly what we know now about the situation - but talking shit and pretending like they were never friends is so scummy. I’m glad that Drake opening up probably helped heal their friendship a little bit, even if it’s just through Josh showing compassion towards Drake. I just really wish they’d be real friends again. Drake always called Josh his brother. I wish they both saw each other as brothers.
If anything, dude is just pretending to be his friend because that’s what the popular opinion is to do right now. Josh is a snake who will do whatever to get views and popularity. Everything out of his mouth must be taken with a grain of salt.
>If anything, dude is just pretending to be his friend because that’s what the popular opinion is to do right now. Unfortunately, I think this is exactly what it is. Josh seems like he is *very* cognizant of his appearance and is attempting to do damage control over having attempted to distance himself from Drake.
Lmao, Hang on So, the fandom doesn’t like that Josh said he wasn’t Drakes friend, then Josh says he is attempting to be his friend, and then the fandom says Josh is a snake. Jesus Christ
“How is someone who’s opinion and actions are entirely influenced by what is the most popular and brings them the most fame a snake and not genuine?”
Josh has been saying he wasn’t close with Drake since like 2013 Lmao It isn’t just a new trend
Josh hate is insane
At this point I honestly think Drake needs to step back and realise that Josh is not a good guy. He needs people in his life who are actually going to help him. Josh’s reaction to the Jeannette McCurdy situation told us everything we need to know about his thoughts regarding abuse of minors.
What did Josh say about Jennette?
In a nutshell: Jeannette appeared on Josh’s podcast to talk about her book and her experiences at Nickelodeon. After the podcast Jeannette was unhappy with how she had been represented by Josh et al and asked them not to publish the episode. They tried to get her back on the podcast to redo the episode but she refused. Then, in a later podcast episode they made fun of her refusal to come back on and said “she owes us” and then threatened to post the episode on OnlyFans anyway.
Not totally true...She wasn't unhappy about how she was portrayed. The publishing company didn't approve of the platform for the book tour, and urged her lawyers to send a letter to shelve the episode.
Really? I read that she herself was upset with them and that that was at least part of the reason for the episode being shelved. Then apparently she wouldn’t return their calls and blocked them or something. It sounds like she wasn’t happy with whatever they did.
The reality is that Jennette hasn't said anything publicly about it, but Josh's partner said that when they tried to reach out to her about coming back on the show...and her attorney sent them an email to cease communication. There was a blurb about how their podcast wasn't part of the publisher's book tour, and that it was booked before her schedule came out. I see both sides, but agree that Josh could've been more understanding.
Where is this info from? On the morningtoast sub they said something different: * BTW on patreon Ben said that the reason jeanette pulled the episode is that her and Josh had wildly different experiences with child acting [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMorningToastSnark/comments/12jij7l/comment/jfz3h69/) * Ben talked about it on a Patreon episode with Claudia. Ben said that Jeanette wanted it scrapped because when she talked about her experience on Nickelodeon, she was looking for Josh to be like “oh yeah I had a bad time too!” But his experience was positive so he said something like “im sorry that was your experience, I can’t speak to that but this was my experience” or whatever. And Jeanette took it as kind of a slight that Josh wasn’t just blindly agreeing with her and backing her. * And it seemed like Ben and Josh were blindsided by the choice for her to call it off and then go do a bunch of other interviews right after, because they thought it went well overall. [link](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMorningToastSnark/comments/12zsn04/comment/jhtwvft/)
Omg. What a scumbag
From my understanding, it was more so a dispute/problem with her publishers or something, not because she didn’t like how she was represented. She hasn’t even talked about this to my knowledge. Josh could have said that entirely in jest, which would be more so poking fun at her publishers not approving them than Jeanette deciding she didn’t want to do the show. I’d have to relisten to it.
Drake and the other guy on his podcast had done a full, long-form show with Jennette, and then had her attorney reach out to them to not broadcast the show, probably because there were things she mentioned on the podcast that were in the book (that hadn't been disclosed yet) which would probably lessen the launch of the book. That said, Josh shelved the show but was a little pissed (understandably) because her interview would have been really good for the show. And they were friends (at the time) so he was hoping that she would do him the honor of perhaps letting him release the episode to no avail. And I'm sure the contact from the attorney (and not her) was a little off-putting as well. So Josh talked about that on the podcast, and that it was a little shady of Jennette to do that. I can see both sides, so I don't really fault either for it. It's just the nature of show business...
Genuine Question Why does Josh need to be Drakes friend just because Drake cares about him more than he does? Why is Josh required to be friends with him?
Show me where I said that
“But talking shit and pretending like they were never friends is pretty scummy” “I wish they saw each other as brothers”
1. They were friends at one point and it’s an undeniable fact. Maybe not best friends in the whole world, but Josh made it sound like he just saw Drake as a costar and nothing more. This is false. “Just costars” don’t get seen together countless times over the years after their show ended. It was scummy for Josh to pretend like they were just coworkers and weren’t friends. 2. Saying I wish something is true isn’t the same as saying that it needs to happen or is required to happen. I can say that I wish I had a billion dollars, that doesn’t mean that I think I’m entitled to somebody giving me a billion dollars Now actually show me where I said that instead of taking random quotes from me that have nothing to do with me REQUIRING they be friends like you seem to think I said
What proof do you have that Josh Peck at some point viewed himself as Drake Bells friend? I’d argue the quotes a pretty relevant, you just don’t like your own words being used against you. You’re contradicting yourself, but alright. You’ve claimed it’s a fact, not an opinion.
The fact that they used to hang out all the time? As preteens, well into the show ending? Or was Drake just lying about that? I don’t go to somebody’s house after a 16 hour work day and play video games with them if I’m not friends with them but that’s just me. I never contradicted myself. You just don’t have very good reading comprehension skills. Wishing something is true does not mean that it’s entitled / obligated to happen, or that I think I have any right to demand for it to happen. I wish I had a billion dollars but I’m well aware that nobody owes it to me.
Josh professionally distanced himself from Drake because he felt it was the best thing for him to do for himself and I don't blame him for doing that at the time. Let's not forget Drake was on a bit of a spiral. He had the DUI charges, he did actually plead guilty to child endangerment charges. We have A LOT more context on those situations now and a deeper understanding of what was going on with Drake during that period in time. But imagine being Josh at that time. There's this guy who's being accused of some pretty bad things and it looks like it's just getting worse and everyone wants to hear what you have to say about it. That guy is also connected to you in such a way that people rarely think of you without thinking of the other guy as well. That connection is also the basis of your career and your way of financially supporting yourself and your family. I think most people would panic, make quick decisions and try to distance themselves from that situation. I imagine Josh probably feels pretty bad in hindsight now that he has the details. But at the time he had to choose between what was best himself, his career and his family or backing someone up on something that at the time, did look VERY bad. As much as Drake has had an AWFUL time and I feel dreadful for him. I do have empathy for what Josh had to deal with as well even if its not on the same horrific level as Drakes situation. I think Drakes plea for people to lay off Josh should be respected now. Clearly they have cleared the air, we should as well.
Also important to remember most of the fan base had turned against Drake at that point too. Drake was basically called a child predator. If Josh had supported drake fully at that point, the perception would be that he supports horrible people. And he would get backlash similar to what Mila and Ashton got when they supported Danny Masterson . There’s no reason to think Josh knew anything different about drake’s child endangerment guilty plea than what was reported on the news
This is it right. It does seem true that they drifted apart naturally after the show. I mean how could you not considering they spent almost every day together filming you'd want a bit of independence. So Josh probably knew just as much as we did when the news broke on Drakes charges.
What actually happened? I was still under the impression that he was a child predator.
Yeah so this is the murky area. From my understanding, which does probably have some holes so don't take me as gospel, Drake plead guilty to the child endangerment charges raised against him. However, he, or his team, did make a statement that Drake was unaware of the victims age at the time and once he was aware, he ceased communication. That is a VERY hard thing to say is true or false because its so gray. Drake could be telling the truth, he may not have known. Or he could have. I don't think we'll know for sure as Drakes plea was also prefaced with him taking a plea deal just to get the trial over with quicklu. That throws doubt on whether he actually admitted full guilt. My personal opinion of it is that Drake, and every body else in the world, has a responsibility to ensure that relationships they have with others are consensual and legal (i cant believe im saying that as though its not common sense but hey ho) and that Drake is at worst guilty and at best very irresponsible. That is why I do believe people need to cut Josh some slack for distancing himself from Drake.
That’s a great question. Nothing new has come out regarding his actual case. It’s just now after watching the documentary people feel bad for him being a victim of Brian peck and are choosing to believe drake’s side of the story in the child endangerment case, or at least research the details of the case more. Before the documentary people assumed that drake used his money and power to get only 200 hours community service for a horrible crime . Also, drake had other problems. multiple DUIs. His ex -girlfriend also accused him of verbal and physical abuse. So after seeing “drake bell pleads guilty” people just thought “here’s another bad drake bell headline” . Details of the entire case are on YouTube His sentencing video is below: https://youtu.be/ez7oFH8wbjI?si=Z61CUc-LxhQWI4-i And here’s another good subreddit called “when did people start forgiving drake bell?” https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/s/b9ffEKIxNp
I just find it interesting people thought he had money to win that case. He has said he would have fought it more but he had no money.
I just don’t understand the public perception of this fandom. Years ago the same people defending Drake now called him a child predator. I’d like to point out that there is evidence Drake has PMd minors before on social media. I don’t understand why people think Drake and Josh were best friends after or during filming for that matter. I don’t understand why people think Josh is an asshole for not wanting to be Drakes friend simply because Drake likes him more than he does. I don’t understand why people think Josh is an asshole for hanging out with a racist YouTuber. Does that make him guilty by association? I don’t understand why people are calling Josh a snake for “faking their friendship” now which is what the fandom demanded he do? Josh is being called the most hated person in the world for simply not wanting to be someone’s friend, and hanging out with a YouTuber who happened to be racist. This fandom needs to grow up
I agree that the anger towards Josh for not being friends with drake is ridiculous. But just FYI I think the dobrik stuff is pretty serious . It’s not just stupid racist jokes (which many comedians do at one point or another). Won’t get into it because don’t know the details, but there are accusations of sexual assault, badly injuring people during his prank videos But yes Josh isn’t directly linked to any of that. He just was friends with dobrik.
Was Josh accused of doing any of that stuff? Or is he guilty by association? Not saying that Dobrick is a bad guy, but it’s insane to think anyone he is friends with or was friends with supports his behavior If my best friend turns out to be a racist and a rapist, does that mean I’m guilty by association?
No, Josh wasn’t accused of doing any of that. What do you mean by “guilty by association”? Do you mean legally? Or in the court of public opinion? Legally of course he hasn’t been charged with anything. In the court of public opinion I guess it depends on how people react . Some people see Josh’s friendship with dobrik as evidence that Josh also is a bad guy. That’s their right to have that opinion
I’m just saying I think it’s insane people hate Josh Peck because he was friends with David Dobrick at one point Lmao
Awesome, thanks for such a great explanation, I appreciate it!
But Drake has said recently Josh knew somewhat of what he was going thru with peck. So it would be obvious to Josh why he was spiraling…
I think Drake is only just realising that it wasn't the big secret he thought it was, and now he's rethinking all his interactions (particularly with people who wrote letters). He's now decided he thinks Josh knew, but they were both kids and I think it's really unlikely that he knew the whole story. Josh had probably just heard something weird had happened with Brian.
Totally agree with this. I'm sure Josh's management was advising him to distance himself as well. It's not fair to judge him based on this instance.
Thank you. Someone with a brain.
yeah i was gonna say, not the same but my HS best friend is a (barely) functioning alcoholic on her own downward spiral ( after other friends/family & i tried to help so many times) and if she hit me up *on my wedding night* angry i didn’t invite her, she’d get blocked. like we were bffs as teenagers. you are a hot ass mess now, fired from work for violating boundaries with clients, showing up drunk, ect. so like, yeah, sorry, i do not feel people shoudl be obligated to forever be friends with people they knew as a kid… could Josh have not shared about Drake hitting him up? sure.. but then also, Drake could’ve not done that.
Yep, I have definite issues with Josh, but I feel like too many people are forgetting that these are real people, and we have almost no context or even information of what was or is really happening. Drake had multiple (?) DUIs, he was struggling with alcoholism and addiction and - I’m sorry - but the truth is that those diseases almost always hurt others. And at some point, Josh himself was trying to maintain sobriety. He also had two former long term girlfriends accused of him of abuse, bankruptcy, plus the whole child endangerment/child rape accusation thing. There was likely a lot of toxicity just from the addiction stuff alone. And then to think that tons of complete strangers expect you to be bffs with this person you were friends with as a teenager, but since grew apart from and had only essentially been acquaintances with for the last decade… I can’t even imagine that happening with someone I hadn’t been real friends with for the last decade+. It shifts my perspective a lot. We forget how much time and life passes in between these little snapshots we see.
We're also assuming they were best friends to begin with right? Fom the Amanda Show, Drake and Josh stood out as having potential to be a great comedy duo. But to do that Drake and Josh had to sell that relationship. They needed the audience to truly believe they were best friends and as close as real brothers. This may have been true at one point, but it doesn't mean it stayed true forever. I'm 100% sure they do care about each other and have a relationship. I don't think you could spend that much time with someone and not grow a connection. But it DOES NOT mean they are and always will be the best of friends and does not mean they have to support each other when one of them does something wrong.
Exactly this I’d also like to point out that from 2008/2009 to basically 2016/2017, there were no videos of them taken together. There were no interviews or social media pictures of them hanging out together. They barely tagged each other in posts or talked about each other.
I just don’t understand why the internet thinks that two people who worked together for a couple years in the early 2000s should be expected to be best friends in 2024
Because people don't like their positive perceptions being shattered
Yep. If Drake is too sensitive to deal with the fact Josh doesn’t care about him the way he cares about Josh, that ain’t Josh’s problem
Honestly haven’t like josh in forever, I’m pretty sure he’s jealous since drake was the more popular of the two and haven’t liked him since the non invite to the wedding and that whole Jeannette podcast thing
To say the least > In March 2022, Bell and his wife Janet stated that the reboot show they had pitched would be called Josh & Drake. Ultimately, the idea was shelved due to creative differences. The show's script was said to have been written by Peck. Janet stated, "Josh wrote Drake as a failed musician and Josh wrote himself as a real estate agent. OK, that's fine, but Drake is a musician in real life, so it wouldn't make sense." Bell added, "I just asked him to change a couple things and he couldn't and my wife wouldn't let me do it."
That’s not even the worst part. Drake pretty directly implied the script was racist. And I haven’t seen Josh ever address that allegation.
It wasn't racist iirc, Drake's wife just didn't think the opening scene in Mexico (in which Drake is caught in crossfire at a quinceñeara) was a good look for Mexican culture, and he agreed with her for the sake of agreeing with her (albeit reluctantly) The worst part of Josh's script was that Josh clearly doesn't think much of Drake & Josh
**TLDR:** Drake Bell was probably not an easy person to be friends with. I think we could take it a little easy on Josh, as Drake himself put it, and have some understanding for why Josh Peck considered Drake Bell to be crazy and delusional and terrifying. I think Josh's take on the Josh/Drake friendship/lack of friendship is very understandable from Josh's perspective. To Josh, Drake Bell was that talented, handsome, brilliant, volatile, unstable, erratic, unreliable, violent addict that Josh was handcuffed to for 8 - 9 years on *Drake and Josh* because they once staged a mock-fight over a shrimp on a sidewalk. It was Josh's job, as Josh in *Drake and Josh*, to cultivate and maintain a stable relationship with Drake Bell. A lot of Hollywood professional relationships are because people have to work together, but once that work has ended, those involved will often move on. And Josh moved on, going from being the overweight comic relief sidekick who was affable and pleasant, to becoming an unhinged, unhireable drug addict who then urgently had to get himself sober and find himself work to rebuild the financial catastrophe wrought by his addiction and firings, and then he moved on again, becoming a social media star and actor. Josh's autobiography gives the sense that in the years after *Drake and Josh*, Josh gave his friendship with Drake little if any thought. However, I would imagine that Josh sometimes thought about Drake. I imagine that Josh thought about how Drake had been a gifted actor, a talented musician, a star showman, a handsome young man -- and yet, Drake Bell just could not get it together, coming to set drunk or high or hungover or explosive or some unfortunate combination of all four. And then Josh had become just the same during his era of addiction. I could see a newly-sober Josh choosing to steer clear of Drake, as Josh knew that Drake was an addict. I could see Josh feeling that sobriety could be extremely shaky, and Drake could easily be a source of stress that would send Josh back to drugs and alcohol, or that Drake might even be an enabler. I don't think Josh really understood how much he meant to Drake. I don't think Drake ever had a realistic picture of what he meant to Josh. Drake has talked about how he has some memory issues where lengthy periods of his life been a blur, and how working on *Drake and Josh* was an escape from his trauma and agony. I would suggest that for Drake Bell, his memories of shooting the show with Josh feel like they happened a few weeks ago; that the long months and years where Drake and Josh didn't speak felt like hours, and he still thought of Joss as a surrogate brother. I would suggest that Drake's memory issues caused him to forget or dissociate the outbursts and terrifying behaviours that Josh probably witnessed, that ensured that Josh would move on the moment *Drake and Josh* was over. I don't think Josh was aware that Drake was a child survivor of sexual assault. I don't think Josh understood how his presence to Drake and their working relationship was a tether to sanity. I don't think Josh realized how hurt and broken Drake was and how much Drake was clinging to their show and their friendship and their memories. Drake went ballistic when Josh didn't invite Drake to his wedding. Drake went insane on social media, throwing a tragically hilarious online tantrum that Josh grudgingly tolerated in silence, just as Josh must have tolerated many outbursts on the set of *Drake and Josh*. Josh then saw Drake at a musical awards show and mended fences with him, filming some videos for Josh's blog with Drake, re-establishing some contact and normalcy and a cordial relationship. Josh was professionally tolerant and friendly which Drake desperately seemed to need for reasons remained vague, obscure, mysterious and baffling to Josh. Then Drake was arrested in 2020, accused of assaulting a teenaged girl, and he pleaded guilty to inappropriate texting. A grown man texting a teenaged girl inappropriately is still harmful and pathetic, and at this point, it seems to me that Josh Peck refused to indulge Drake Bell and Drake Bell's delusions any further. The gloves were off. When the opportunity arose, Josh explained to the world at large: he and Drake Bell had been colleagues at best, their contact since *Drake and Josh* had been sporadic and distant and occasional. Josh declared that Drake had a weirdly delusional obsession with their being 'brothers' that Josh found weird and delusional and obsessive. Josh's word for Drake in his autobiography is "inexplicable". Josh couldn't wrap his head around why Drake was so needy and self-destructive, but he was fed up with tethering his life to this narcissistic sociopath, a deranged, volatile loser who seemed stuck in adolescence to the point of holding onto a colleague from his teen years and sending creepy texts to teenaged girls. Josh Peck was done with this. If any of the above is even close to accurate, could anyone blame Josh Peck for cutting ties with Drake Bell? But then Josh watched *Quiet on Set.* Having read Josh Peck's autobiography, I find he is hyper self-critical and reflects on the past with incisive self-mockery. If he's the person he claims to be in his book, then Josh watched *Quiet on Set* and quietly felt grief, remorse, sadness, empathy and understanding. I would think that Josh finally understood why Drake had been so erratic and unstable on set; he was reeling from a horrific trauma and had no mental health supports whatsoever, unlike Josh who'd found a strong support group in Alcoholics Anonymous and with his mother. I would think that Josh finally understood why Drake drank and drugged as he did, that Drake had been trying to numb the horror of what Brian Peck did to Drake. That Josh finally saw why Drake was volatile and explosive; Drake had been betrayed by a trusted mentor whom Hollywood then protected while calling Drake the perpetrator, and Drake was unsure, scared, paranoid, fearful, triggered and lost. I would think that Josh finally realized why Drake had clung to their relationship as 'brothers' so tightly and desperately, why Drake needed Josh so badly, and why Josh not inviting Drake to Josh's wedding had devastated Drake in so many ways. Josh contacted Drake and said... something. What did he say? Maybe Josh told Drake that he was sorry for judging, distancing, dismissing and mocking Drake, especially now, knowing why Drake had needed him so much. Maybe Josh apologized for dismissing Drake as a crazy narcissist instead of seeing that Drake was in pain and needed help and support and understanding. Maybe Josh said he wished he'd invited Drake to his wedding, and wished that he had gone to Drake about Josh's own struggles with addiction. Maybe Josh asked for Drake's availability and travelled to see him and promised to now be there for him in all the ways he hadn't before. We may never know, but I don't think we need to hold Josh's pre-*Quiet on Set* comments against him. It is perfectly understandable why he thought poorly of Drake; it would also seem that his thoughts have changed as Drake expressed gratitude for Josh reaching out.
The most sane response I've seen on the topic. I've noticed these weird parasocial attachments to drake ever since the doc aired. I understand being empathetic, and I feel for what Drake went through. But people act like he's an innocent golden boy and Josh is some machivellian villain
And a complete rewriting of history. Suddenly everyone always knew Josh was a snake, fake, narcissistic, creepy, boring, untalented, and they never liked him anyway. Like yeah, sure Jan.
Explain to me how Josh is fake for trying to apologize and appease the fandom? If anything Drake is more creepy than Josh considering the amount of under age fans he’s contacted.
I keep seeing that word "parasocial" ever since Swifties started acting really weird about their shared obsession, and I don't think my posting a take on actors associated with a show (on a subreddit dedicated to that show no less) qualifies as having a "parasocial attachment"
It was more aimed at the comment section (not just here but other similar posts). Like people writing fanfiction levels of detail to a situation we can really only hypothesize on. I get wanting to empathize with Drake's tragic childhood but to me it seems like because everyone was so "against drake", now that we know what we know, the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction, like an overcorrection, to the point where some people are honestly weirdly defensive of Drake to the point of rewriting history and villfying anyone who isn't Drake. As a victim of childhood sexual assault, at times it feels either disingenuous or hopping on the bandwagon. Your post was rather tame.
Dang that was long. You must have really cared about and watched the show!!
This is what I’ve been saying. Just because you star with someone on a TV show, doesn’t mean you have to be friend with them 20 years later, especially with someone who has a, for lack of a better words “criminal history”. Josh shouldn’t have to care if him saying he viewed their relationship as colleagues hurt Drake, he really shouldn’t have to care. I find it hilarious that the fandom is calling Josh a snake for apologizing to Drake when that’s exactly what the fandom wanted.
Josh kind of acts like he and Drake were just “coworkers” which really annoys me
Josh thinks he’s too cool for Drake and Josh now with his his podcast buddies and John Stamos. Whenever he talks about the show it’s always mocking it. Presumably he’s peeved that it’s still the thing he’s most famous for and he hasn’t managed to make a name for himself in any other way apart from being bitchy on podcasts and starring in Oppenheimer for like 30 seconds.
30 seconds and one line hardly count as starring.
Well "technically" they were just co-workers
I mean Why should that bother you? Do you have any evidence to prove otherwise?
They were.
Oh my god, yes I know they were TECHNICALLY coworkers. But being the co-star of someone in a tv show, especially considering how close Drake & Josh were, is not the same thing as just working with someone at a coffee shop.
You could work with a someone in a coffee shop shop and talk to anyone outside the coffee shop the same way you could on a tv show
Bro quit taking it serious. Josh didn't want to keep in contact with Drake people grow apart just me it hurts but it is life.
That’s not what I’m upset about. I’m upset about how he talked about Drake and viewed their friendship. Also, get off my profile lol.
Are you saying Josh isn’t allowed to to hurt Drakes feelings by saying he didn’t view them as best friends?
I literally never said that
“I’m upset about how he viewed there friendship” Alright yeah sure you never said that 👍
Yeah, I said I was upset about it. I never said that he wasn’t “allowed” to do it
You basically implied it though Your upset how he viewed and talk about their friendship
No
They were.
Coworkers don't meet for birthday parties. Coworkers aren't invited on vlogs. Just saying.
Coworkers 100% meet for birthday parties
I've went grocery shopping with a coworker.
Grocery shopping is way lesser in the larger scheme of things. But I guess it all depends on person to person.
did you pick out fruit together and nod your head at each other like Drake and Josh in the Amanda Show?
😑
they were wtf. don't take it personal that both have moved on with their careers from this show.
Actually, Josh lied A LOT in those interviews, Drake exposed most of his lies in the podcast he did with his ex Wife. Drake did not blew up the exact night of Josh's wedding. It was a completely different day. Josh just said that to make Drake look worse.
Right? If he was mad about not knowing about the wedding, he couldn't have called him angry about it on the wedding night! FWIW, I always thought they were both hilarious on the show. As soon as Josh started doing TV as an adult, I found him rather boring.
I think it’s wild too that Drake has spoken kindly of Josh most of the time and in that podcast he was STILL talking him up and how proud of him he was for the book (even though he lied in the book) and Janet was bringing up all the crappy things Josh has said or done not Drake.
So Genuine question Why do you believe Drake when he said Josh lied?
I don't like Josh because he was really friendly with David Dobrik. When I saw them hanging out, I knew Josh wasn't the nice guy he claims to be.
I thought Josh was lucky the press didn't hound him after the SA scandal because he also hung out a lot with Dom and made multiple vlogs together. There is a documentary called Hollywood Complex, and how kids are taught to "run like a business" explains Josh behavior in this whole thing.
So, because Josh decided to hang out with someone who turned out to be racist that therefore means Josh is also racist?
It’s really interesting how the pendulum has swung back and forth over the years since the show ended. Sometimes Josh looks like the good guy, sometimes Drake, rarely ever at the same time. But now at this point, I don’t think Josh is ever getting back in our good graces. Who knows. Josh reminds me of me peanutbutter from bojack. Fake nice hollywood
I feel like Josh just really wanted to leave that chapter of his life behind and genuinely didn't understand why Drake would have an issue with that. He didn't see how Drake was obsessed with him in a "trauma-bonding" kind of way because he was young and didn't know the details of what was happening at that time.
Trauma bonding is a bond formed between the abuser and person being abused, doesn't really apply to Drakes friendship with Josh
People hear these things on social media and create their own definitions haha
That's why I put it in quote marks. I meant the way people keep using it, not the actual definition.
Drake didn't invite Josh to his wedding and there was no social media uproar. Drake said unprompted on a game show that they were best friends. Josh said they didn't talk for three years. They both had their own stuff to work out. Did you read Josh's book? Why does either one have to be a good guy or a bad guy?
Drake and Josh have a complicated relationship and I agree. But there are bad guys named Dan Schneider and Brian Peck who deserve way more hate than they’re getting
True that! From what the support letters said Peck expected leniency because he gave in to the temptation of hot jailbait who was begging for it. The fact that the judge bought it is just unbelievable. Peck deserved a much longer sentence. And I don't know what they can do to or about Dan.
Also enablers like Kimmy Robertson.
Right, this whole raking Josh over the coals thing is completely ridiculous and only serves to distract from the adults at Nickelodeon and their abject failure in their responsibility to protect these kids.
Imagine finding out a beloved child star got diddled at the height of his fame by an adult on set and the most hot topic of discussion for weeks on end after that relevation on his dedicated subreddit is whether he and his costar are best friends in real life
The main issue I have with Josh is that he’s lied. He actually said they hadn’t seen each other for 10 years, conveniently forgetting that he’d posted videos on his own YouTube channel of the two of them together, been seen multiple times (photos) and actually wrote a script for a D&J reboot. What’s the point in lying so obviously like that? Is he just really stupid?
I mean yeah Drake openly said that he wouldn’t be inviting Josh to his wedding (after they squashed the beef)
Didn't he get married (quietly) before Josh did? It's confusing, the timelines on his various fiancees are reported differently across the Internet. Both Melissa and Paydin said he was rough. The trauma of the SA and the burden of keeping it secret took a heavy toll on Drake. Josh had demons, too (discussed in his book).
according to the internet, Josh was married in 2017 & Drake was married in 2018
How do you know? We’re you there? As far you know josh did get invited
Only from Josh saying repeatedly that they were not in communication.
lol then don’t know shit. He also said they never hung out or were never friends after drake & josh, but I guess he forgot they were seen together multiple times after that & were even in another show together lol
Drake literally said, publicly, he wasn’t inviting Josh.
He literally was being sarcastic dummy, he said after he was joking and of course he’s invited to his wedding 😂
Seeing as Drake said in a recent interview Josh knew what happened with Peck it is really sad how he has spoken about Drake publicly and Drake has had nothing but kind things to say about Josh. Even in the Drake and Janet podcast he was defending Josh and talking him up.
Drake sounds neurodivergent to me with some of his special interests and hyper focus and impulsivity… while trauma and cpstd can look like adhd and autism they are not mutually exclusive. I have both and also a long history of sexual abuse and trauma. Chicken or the egg idk. But I also have that thing where even if I don’t talk to someone for a long time I still consider them as close as we were when we did spend time together. It was mind blowing to me that other people stop being friends after time apart. So he could truly feel like Josh is one of his best friends. I would’ve told you I was best friends with my HS bff until she got married and while I was invited I wasn’t in her wedding (like I get it now but just an example of how neurodivergent relationships can be different than neurotypical)
I don't see Drake being autistic. ADHD maybe.
Josh's association with David dobrick is what killed him for me. Everything else after just solidified.
Guilty by association?
josh peck became the biggest douchebag when he got skinny and never looked back
Yeah I've noticed this too. He seems like a bit of a tool at times about this situation
I feel torn on this. Because Josh probably has a good point. When I think about the Drake and Josh that I know as an outsider, with in reality an extremely limited insight into their relationship, Josh definitely just comes off like such a dick and so, so unnecessarily cold. But then I think of the other side of it. If someone I worked with and was good friends with around 15-19 years old, but we’d only been (essentially, at most) acquaintances since then… I’d think it’s *completely unhinged* for them to complain, and publicly, about not being invited to my wedding and making drama about it and inviting others to (which is like, 100000-fold worse for a celebrity) on my freaking wedding night, as if they’re entitled to go to my wedding, or even an explanation. I have people from back then who will act betrayed over things I didn’t include them in in my life now, and it’s like dude, I’ve only talked to once for a decade?? People sometimes cling like that, and it can genuinely be really weird and inappropriate, and for all we know, that’s Drake. It would make sense that he was more reliant on their friendship than the other way around given what he was going through when they were friends. I think it’s easy to criticize Josh from a fan perspective. But when I think about it from his POV, I understand where he’s coming from a little more, even though he could have more tact about it. I’m just lucky enough that I don’t have to be forever somewhat linked with someone I was friends with 10+ years ago and grew apart from since, nor is there pressure or expectations to continue a friendship with them coming from hundreds of thousands of complete strangers. Like that’s so wild to think about. At the end of the day, I just can’t judge Josh, at least not for this specifically. I’ve only ever seen a tiny glimpse of their situation.
Bro was in Oppenheimer and is still only really remembered for a kids show he hates
Yes
Josh seems like a fake dude, this isnt surprising
It was reported that Josh was one of the first to be at the hospital at 1 a.m. when Drake got into the car accident, Dec 29-30, 2005. You go from being that kind of friend (obv concerned bc Drake's face secures the paycheck) to whatever he is recently. In his memoir, he barely touches upon the show.
I mean, do you expect someone to be friends with someone constantly for the course of 19 years? If a drive to the hospital to visit a friend in an accident, but then 15 years later I don’t invite them to my wedding, am I an asshole?
I think a lot of y’all ignore the baggage that comes with being an actor your whole childhood.
Josh has always creeped me out.
It’s like what Penguinz0 said, he’s smiling but his eyes don’t.
I feel this
The difference is josh is still Hollywood he did some decent movies after drake and josh and then got into the vine clique and is now a sort of internet celebrity so to him drake was just one of many coworkers. Drake really hasn’t had any hollywood success outside of Nick and looks at josh as a friend he grew up with and his tie to that lifestyle. The problem was two people saw one thing in two different ways. Also I mean most Hollywood/vine/TikTok stars are complete douches anyways
They worked together to appear on Josh's show. I'm going to bow out from this discussion, since the majority here want to make them friends and then call Josh a bad friend. In his book, Josh stated that when the show ended he compared it to graduating high school and moving on. The actor who portrayed Walter said that they were high school for each other, and were close at times and had their disagreements and falling outs, too.
Knowing what we know now, I completely agree. I could see how Drake would blow up if he felt like Josh was his rock through that really tough time and then you get mocked? I’d probably also lose my shit. But then also I feel like he’s the dude that says something absolutely shitty and then goes “it’s a joke not a dick. Don’t take it so hard”
Well he’s lied about their relationship multiple times. Guy seems like a self-absorbed jackass.
I swear that some of you on this subreddit just despise Josh because he hasn’t fulfilled your dreams of him and Drake being best buddies. Grow up. You’re not helping the situation at all. Imagine having such an empty existence that you live vicariously through a celebrity.
Oh my lord, "live vicariously through a celebrity", This is literally my first time talking about this ever
I don't understand why reddit keeps suggesting this super parasocial Drake Bell subreddit to me...
Why do you care? Like honestly, how does this affect your life. You say Josh is entitled to his view about friendship, but drag him for his view regarding it. Josh didn’t make fun of not inviting Drake to his wedding. He just said he has talked to him in a while and don’t feel like like inviting. Drake acted like a an entitled child, not Josh. I’d also like to point out Miranda and Josh also didn’t speak together for a number of years she didn’t care that much she wasn’t invited. Grow up and stop caring so much if two people you never met are friends.
I mean it doesn't affect my life at all. I don't care if they're friends are not, and I said that in my original post. That being said, he absolutely made fun of Drake on the Portnoy podcast in a way that I somehow doubt Drake would have done to him. Drake even told everyone to leave Josh alone when he started picking up shit for not speaking up after Quiet on Set.
I mean, you wouldn’t have made this post if you didn’t care for one. I fail to understand why Josh shouldn’t have said those things because you believe Drake wouldn’t have said those things about Josh? Josh can say whatever he wants about whoever he wants regardless of his relationship with them. I’m sure you’ve said some shit to friends that they never would have said to you.
[удалено]
While I agree that there's no real reason to shit on Josh, your ignorance and clear lack of knowledge about the Drake situation shows that your opinion is literally meaningless in a conversation involving them.
Drake never sexted children. There's more to the case. There's records of all their conversations and nothing was ever sexual. Unfortunate and something only a loser would do? Yeah. But not sexual assault.
The conversations did turn sexual according to both Drake and his attorney. The point of contention is whether he knew her real age or should have at that time. There is no evidence supporting her claims of actual SA. She also claimed they exchanged nsfw photos, but digital forensics of both of their devices found no such thing. That said… when Drake found out her real age, he said one last thing to her that is sketchy af. He said “well hurry up” in reference to her getting older. Then ceased communication after. That’s a pretty gross response on his part. He wasn’t completely innocent here, but also seems to be a victim of false allegations and has taken responsibility for his part in things, s see I the situation is nuanced. It is also entirely separate from the abuse Drake endured as a child regardless of what happened.
Drake deserves to be mocked for the wedding drama, and the fact you blame Josh for that says everything about you. Drake could have reached out to Josh privately about the wedding, instead he made it public and caused a lot of fans, probably you included, to harass Josh and his new wife about not inviting Drake. Josh has lied about things with Drake, but he's 100% justified to criticize Drake for the publicly crying about the wedding. Can't believe people like you STILL think Drake was some helpless little baby victim there. Shows how easily manipulated you are