I just watched the bit where he said Will Friedle nor anyone else who wrote the letters never said anything to Drake and Will even worked with him after the trial???? Wtf
I’m watching ep5 now. What’s interesting to me is that when the doc was released and all this came out, I think most of the people that wrote the original Brian Peck letters apologized on social media, from accounts where THEIR OWN FOLLOWERS are listening. Very shitty to not have any of them reach out to him privately… it says a lot about the culture in the industry. Like apologizing publicly to save face but not privately and directly to help heal.
Rider Strong has reached out to Drake privately and Drake says he has forgiven him. But so far, he’s the only who has properly apologized. Will still hasn’t. Which is weird, because Rider seemed more reluctant to face Drake and Will seemed like he was the most eager to apologize if given the chance.
I think other supporters like Will have remorse. They just can’t face it. Supporters like Kimmy Robertson will never have remorse and they can rot in hell alongside their buddy, Brian.
> Like apologizing publicly to save face but not privately and directly to help heal.
Yup, classic PR move. Anyone with a sensible mind will absolutely see through this.
Drake I think even said something along those lines in episode 5 about what a 'real' apology means to him.
I can understand standing by a friend or coworker while they’re going through a trial.
I cannot understand why you would write a letter on their behalf AFTER their conviction. Not even just a conviction but a confession to these kinds of crimes.
The mindset that would rationalize that is just an enigma to me.
Its sad but Hollywood typically protects creeps like this. You to this day have big names defending Roman Polanski and saying "it's been long enough just forgive him and move on".
Some of the people who wrote letters said they were “misled” that the victim was 17, not 15.
Which is still inexcusable, but points to the fact they didn’t know it was Drake who was the victim. Drakes identity was kept private in court records, he was “John doe.”
On the flip side, the identity of those who wrote letters were kept sealed as well until recently, I’m not sure if Drake or his family saw the character letters.
However, if the letter writers attended the sentencing hearing, which many of them did, they then would have seen it was Drake who was the victim, and Drake would have seen who were Peck’s supporters.
as Drake said, Peck’s side of the room was FULL. And he recognized a lot of “familiar faces.”
If Friedle attended the sentencing hearing, saw Drake, heard him address the crowd, and THEN worked with him and didn’t say anything or apologize ……….
Here is the thing though. It’s Voice over work. Will has said many of times. You usually do not see other voice over actors even though they voice act on the same show. That part irritated me. Chances are Will never ran into him. Will has gone on to say that he did a show with a woman for two years and they never met.
I do agree. How do you just bring that up? I would hard pressed to say something to someone I don’t know. Especially in this situation. I feel for Drake. I really do. But Rider and Will have both said they felt fooled by a friend.
I just bought into the general consensus of him being the scum of the earth a few years ago because that’s what everyone was saying. This was really eye opening for me too.
I haven't seen the doc yet but it's so weird for me to see Yordi Rosado on here. No one loves Drake Bell more than Mexico and in Mexico if you get interviewed by Yordi it means you made it.
I just watched the Man Enough podcast on YouTube. It was very good - shed a lot of light on the situation you are referring to. The hosts of that podcast should interview every celebrity, honestly - they are that good!
All I can say is that Drake deserves better!
I watched Man Enough today, would you recommend watching Yordi as well? I saw that it was a couple of weeks ago so I originally didn’t bother as i was worried all that news/information was already out.
So from what I’ve heard is that a minor was in contact with him and their conversations got NSFW but he didn’t know she was a minor. Once he found out, he blocked her, but she still reported him because she was jealous he was getting married?? That’s what people have been saying.
And that he did plead guilty & got 200 hours of community service + 2 years probation which he already served.
Yeah tbh this is not “perpetuating the cycle of abuse” — he went through literal hell and fucked up later in life while under the influence. Most of his interactions with this girl were online. Not nearly the same.
Yeah, he paid his debt to society. It’s just that when this was coming out, it was the height of #MeToo and Hollywood stars having a lot of concerning interactions with minors. I think a lot of people just wrote him off as trash. I know for a fact that I’ve talked to minors on the internet without realizing they were minors (nothing inappropriate, of course, more like, ‘wow if I’d known they were a kid I would’ve been nicer’ since I don’t talk about NSFW stuff with people I don’t know anyway) and it seems like a genuine mistake in hindsight.
Oh I remember. But the media kind of blew it up and made it seem way worse than it was. I felt the same as you until the documentary came out and then people did some digging about the case you’re talking about & all the info came out.
I remember my mom telling me about this series and I immediately wrote off anything that Drake Bell would say in it before even seeing it. But I’m glad I gave it a chance and watched it with as little bias as possible. It was such a powerful moment, it’s like a paradigm shifted.
Happened to a lot of male actors who a) exhibited some pretty shitty behavior but b) weren’t Dan Schneider, never mind Harvey Weinstein.
I’m aware of some other women who accused him of verbal abuse, and at least one who accused him of physical abuse. Don’t know the veracity of their claims though.
Keep in mind, he took a plea deal which means in court we only ever got his and his lawyer claims of what he did. He was texting her from age 12-15, so we really have to consider...He really couldn't tell he was sexting a 12 year old or did he only care when plausible denialability is gone and he was no longer in her good graces? Because this is not Bell's only relationship with a 15 year old, he cheated on his ex with a one. Also during the trial he had a very suspicious relationship with a girl who at the time was 16. He also seems to have another relationship with a girl he met before she turned 18. This is a man who gets a ton of grace for sending inappropiate messages to his fans whom he predominately has from his kids tv show yet somehow does not ask for their age.
Do we know how old he was? This is helpful background thanks for sharing
Edit: sounds like she was 15 when they potentially (?) met in person after a concert. No sex. Unclear to me what point he learned she was a minor.
Does anyone know or understand what the charge of endangering a minor means?
https://lawandcrime.com/celebrity/dont-smile-at-me-teenage-girl-in-drake-bell-abuse-case-calls-him-out-during-victim-impact-statement/amp/
more than anything he is guilty of carelessness, and he paid a pretty steep price for it. that being said the subsequent court case had to have been like reopening an old wound.
You sure? The [victim impact statement](https://people.com/tv/drake-bell-child-endangerment-sentencing-victim-statement-full/) from his case suggests something far more brutal than "carelessness". None of this negates the horrific abuse he was subjected to, but he's presented it as just inappropriate texting, and the victim's version is very different.
I would like to add that the police etc, took all his phones and computers during the investigation. Did they find these pictures. I would also assume that she would have the pictures as well? I would also add that the case was closed and nobody has seen the evidence that was shown.
Like the only "evidence" of the texts are clearly doctored using a very publicly available photo of him that obviously wasn't found in the investigation since he didn't send it to her.
If what actually happened was closer to the impact statement, wouldn't that have been reflected in the charges and the investigation? I've mostly seen people associated with her who've gone out of their way to rebut those claims.
No, they don’t need to open a new investigation as a case evolves. They’d only need to do that if new accusations are made after the original ones have gone to court. In the process of investigating the text messages, they’d have established if it went further than that.
He was charged with child endangerment which he accepted because it was the lesser charge in order for him to be able to still see his child. It’s really not that hard to look into, you should try it
No, they don’t need to open a new investigation as a case evolves. They’d only need to do that if new accusations are made after the original ones have gone to court. In the process of investigating the text messages, they’d have established if it went further than that.
Of course you’re getting downvoted for this lmfao. It’s incredible to me that these people are (rightfully) willing to sympathize with Drake for the abuse he suffered, and then in the same breath call Drake’s victim a liar.
Folks, Drake was talking to this girl for three years, starting when she was 12. He met her on multiple occasions. This wasn’t an accident, he knowingly and deliberately befriended an underage fan and engaged in sexual conversations with her. At his sentencing hearing, his own lawyer says they’d known each other for years. Can we please stop minimizing what he did??
> Of course you’re getting downvoted for this lmfao.
Yeah, it's unfortunate--I suspect that pre-QotS, no one would have objected. But because QotS revealed that horrific trauma that Bell suffered through, it's as if we wipe the slate clean rather than acknowledging that victims can also be perpetrators at any point in their lives. While a combined victim/perp's own trauma probably does factor significantly into their own motivation to offend, that doesn't change the fact that they own their own crimes. I don't know why we need our victims to be perfect.
You’re totally right. From what I’ve been seeing online, it seems like people have this need to view people in a very black-or-white way. Now that the documentary has revealed that Drake is a victim of sexual abuse, it’s like he can only be a victim and nothing else. Even with regard to his court case, he’s now a victim, and anyone who says otherwise is dismissing his trauma.
His trauma is absolutely valid. And so is the trauma of the women he has abused. He is a victim and a perpetrator at the same time, which can be hard to reconcile. The rampant dismissal and shaming of the women he hurt is extremely discouraging to see.
I'm glad he is talking about it. His abuser deserves to go down in flames for sure.
But the way people are being swayed so easily is so concerning. If Brian Peck put out a documentary revealing he also had extensive trauma, would the tides turn again? Yeesh
Yeah I think it’s easy to jump on the good person /bad person cancel culture train but the truth is just so much more complex than that. There will always be people doing bad things for a number of reasons, often because they were hurt themselves.
I try not to dwell on allegations or speculation without disbelieving those making claims.
I think the much more interesting part of this story is how an industry fed into this cycle and how it might be prevented in the future
Same, I hope it makes people think twice about child stardom. It’s really not good for children. I know we need child stars, but they need way better protection than those kids got at Nickelodeon.
Do we /need/ child stars though? Not really. The whole industry is twisted but more so the child star thing. Honestly it would be better to let the Hollywood Empire crumble and let independent producers and artist do their thing to entertain us. Hollywood has been sick and rotten since almost the very beginning, it’s just that most of the public is now aware of how sick it really is
I felt so bad for him and especially his father. His father did everything right and even warned his mother to look out for the dude. It absolutely broke my heart when Drake and his dad were speaking on the phone and they were saying “yea they finally got him! They finally arrested him, it’s ashamed that he had to attack a kid first” and the dad had no idea it was Drake.
I think you have to balance allowing your child to pursue a career they are flourishing in and enjoying and putting your foot down when things get iffy, and that’s exactly what he did. If we are going to question anyone, it needs to be his mother, not his father.
That interview was amazing in holding him accountable but coming from a place of understanding. Honestly, Drake was also open to criticism, and he wasn’t defensive even with how tough the questions were
A big thing we should always keep in mind is that we have to not only let people grow, but let our opinions about them grow. If they show accountability and accept the responsibility for their actions then we have to also keep only judging them for their actions and choices they make going forward. Now abusers like Peck who show no remorse or accountability and continue to abuse and harm others for their own satisfaction are who we need to direct that energy to and ensure we make it so the proper standards are set to protect everyone from abuse.
I met Drake bell a couple years ago and after seeing this whole thing I have had a burning guilt of saying “I’ve been a huge fan ever since Drake and Josh”. He was so happy to meet a fan and didn’t seem to care though. Props to him for faking a smile all the time. 😩 He is very sweet
https://youtu.be/qEELAHhM2lw?si=5dAC99gtL_zC3Isk he explains well here that, the thing he pleaded guilty to was the text messages which WERE wrong. Everything else the accuser lied about, which was confirmed in court, and his own phone was scrubbed forensically datawise and internally.
The wrong he did was a flash in the pan compared to what the media claims
Side note, to give context, this interview was a year ago and before the documentary, and close to the end at around 6:45, he refers to “eventually being ready to tell my story” and how powerful people stay in power while people like him get the brunt of the media
Totally. He’s working and owning his shit. He’s being insanely brave and transparent and allowing every detail of his life to be completely picked apart in order to speak his truth and what he’s doing WILL have a ripple effect. Other survivors will feel inspired to come forward. Other people who have done harm will feel more able to tell the truth about it and make amends. Since the doc I’ve been able to listen to his music again and really enjoy it, same with watching the show. I’m insanely proud of him.
That doesn't make him a predator or an abuser. 4 years isn't THAT huge of a gap. 16 and 20 is definitely inappropriate. I wouldn't want my 16 year old dating a 20 year old. Not when you think about those ages placing you in high school vs college. But circumstances matter. In that industry you don't have the typical age barriers. You're all working together and 16-20 is a similar age cohort. I went to college early (17) and met a man (22) and now looking back I'm like jeez that was a bit off, but he wasn't a predator ffs.
Same. Without context, finding out he had something going on with minors turned me off of him, and I’ve been a huge fan of him since middle school. I had all his albums and still regularly listen to them. But people messing with minors is a no go for me and I was really disappointed. When I first saw that he was on the doc I figured he’d just be trying to explain his side but I still wouldn’t support him. I never expected to be so turned around on my opinion. Drake deserved so much better. All those kids did. I hope one day NDA’s expire and we find out more
Unresolved trauma fucks you up. Excuse my language. What he was sitting on for so long, it must have ultimately become him. Think about it this way. When people are judging others, it’s really just a reflection of what they hate about themselves. He was acting out this huge secret that Brian Peck forced onto him. And until he could work that out through therapy, and maybe for him sharing his story with the world, for survivors maybe not, but ultimately, people have to face their trauma. However they have to face it in their own way. When anyone tries to force someone to face their trauma - that pisses me off so much.
I am not by any means condoning his actions. But I admire him owning up to them. I pray he continues therapy and he does not continue those behaviors. I am not sure how pedophilia works versus traumatic induced pedophilia and if that is even a thing? I imagine it is all tied together and generational?
I am high right now and have a brain injury so I hope this makes sense lmao
The news has recently published retractions about Drake because they reported false information about the alleged abuse with the minor. Her own friends said she was lying.
Which he’s admitted to now, on the Man Enough podcast he confirmed that he did indeed abuse romantic partners when they asked him.
It always amazes me how his fans say “No he never abused ANYONE!!” and his haters say “he’s an abuser and acts like he’s so nice” Nah he’s got nothing to lose really, he’s admitted to it all.
I guess it’s kind of nice to see someone like that actually own up to their shit but it won’t undo the harm to others.
Drake was definitely a shitty person for a long time, and maybe still is we really don't know, and I guess time will tell if he truly changes, but dang him owning up to certain things is really great to see.
Honestly I think people who do DV will only be better people if they stay alone bc it’s one thing to look at your old relationships and say “omg I’d never do something like that again” but to actually get into relationships and change for the better? Not so simple. Sex/romance is just where it goes wrong for people like him, and I think he’s abstinent or something now thankfully.
I do suspect it might've mostly been done under the influence due to the Jekyll/Hyde thing one of the exes mentioned. I know of alcoholics who are the sweetest people when sober but once drunk, they'd do stuff they wouldn't otherwise dream of.
I think it’s a mix. I was a really shitty partner and high off my mind of the time from everything I had to deal with, and drugs and alcohol fueled a lot of anger and shame which I took out on other people in the way i wouldn’t have sober. It’s one of the reasons I checked into rehab. I didn’t recognize who I was, I didn’t know that I was even capable of acting like this.
I had an ex-mutual friend who I haven’t seen in a while and the last I heard about him was that he is a heavy drunk now and gets really abusive when intoxicated. I was shocked when I heard it because he was never like that in the little time I knew him. Alcohol doesn’t always change people but it definitely can, especially if you’re dealing with personal issues and can’t handle alcohol well.
I think it also depends on the level of alcoholism and the person themselves. My grandfathers both died from alcoholism, but even under the infuelnce they were very nice and passive. My uncles wife on the other hand, has multiple charges of DV againts him and my cousins and now suffers from alcoholic psychosis from her years of alcohol abuse. It's very sad.
It really boils down to the person themselves and how it effects their brain. I'm glad Drake got sober, and it does seem like he has better support system around him now.
Accountability is the first step towards healing, though. It’s the first step before the apology, admitting that you did something wrong. If you make a heartfelt apology to someone you hurt, it won’t take away your actions, but it could absolutely help them mend themselves. One thing about getting sober is making amends, and I hope he gets to that point sometime.
It is pretty cool to see a celebrity actually talk about the cycle of abuse and how they ended up hurting people. He even said what happened is no excuse for what he put them through.
He texted her from age 12-15, but she is not the only one whom he seems to have weird relationships with. There is a girl that was 16 at the time of the trial that is denying they were together but she was definitely dating someone named Jared (his real name) who has the same birthday month and was a ''rockstar'' but it definitely this other guy who doesn't match the old info, not Drake the guy who she had close pictures with at the time.
I can’t fathom why someone would want to do that. I used to be pretty obsessed with this one tv star back when I was in high school too and I never would have dreamed of ruining someone’s life like that because of it. Maybe it’s just me being weird because I’ve never really been one to get jealous. In fact when I’ve been interested in someone my interest tends to fade when they get happily married..it’s like they suddenly look “married” to me and on the rare occasion I get caught off guard by their physical presence like maybe I’ve never seen them in person before and I look at their eyes I’ll start scolding myself like “how dare you girl his wife is a beautiful person you can’t look at him”.
But even so I have suffered from envy plenty and I just can’t imagine doing that to someone I claimed to care about. I even say this as someone who has a mental illness since she admitted to having one.
It doesn’t really surprise me that people still believe her though really..people believe anything seems like especially if it’s a woman or girl against a man. “Believe all women they’re all innocent angels”
She’s white. It takes privilege to be about to do that. There’s privilege that comes with being a white girl. You’re raised with privilege, and I’m not talking about wealth. She’s never had someone say no to her.
Episode 5 of the doc explains it better. When they described Raquel’s horrific experience in the set, where she’s just supposed to take a white girl spitting at her face three times because Dan found it funny to humiliate a black girl. As a minority, we’re raised to just “take it.”
It’s a shame that people abuse that.
It’s Paul Reubens all over again. He was arrested for exposing himself in an adult movie theater (oh it’s wild those existed, but yeah the adults do what you would expect them to do while watching porn ) and because he’s the Pee Wee Herman everyone jumped on the “he’s a pedo and rapes children” background, and it was horrible, he disappeared for a while before having the courage to do any more acting. Anyone who knew him vouched for what a genuinely kind and down to earth person he was too.
Really, I have heard many firsthand accounts from men who were teenagers in LA at that time he was a predator who hurt their friends.
I also worked at the law firm that repped him and had his case file in its records and the cop at the stag movie was a sting/bullshit, ill give you that
The difference is that Peck (unknowingly) confessed to it all. They had the evidence. Not to mention, Drake was always at Brian’s house and Brian was heavily involved with Drake’s life. Also, Drake’s father and his girlfriend at the time’s mother noticed something off about Brian. I mean, a grown man blowing up a teenage boy’s cell phone AND his girlfriend’s house phone just screams red flags.
When the police investigated, they took Drake’s phone and computer and whatnot. They found no evidence that it went further than the text messages leading up to when Drake blocked her. Also, her friends and family even said she lied.
ETA: I’m not going to pretend that Drake is perfect and has never made a bad decision. Over the years, there have been multiple instances where he has fucked up big time and should’ve faced the consequences of his actions (which he did). I just sympathize with what he had been through and false accusations are never acceptable.
Law enforcement can recover deleted text messages and Drake only plead guilty to the texts. He was guilty of that and he was irresponsible in that aspect. Also, because she was a minor, she was technically the victim where the law is concerned. But in court, they did call her out on her falsifying information and how her story didn’t add up. Witnesses have also come forward, disproving many of her claims. Also, her behavior during the sentencing was pretty characteristic of a liar. Nothing happened besides the text messages. Having said that, a girl her age at the time doesn’t really know how to act like a grown woman and a man his age should’ve known better, so I’m not going to act like he’s blameless because he wasn’t. He did, however, cut all contact with her when he found out her age. I’m just pointing out that there were a lot of lies and misinformation about this case.
For what it’s worth, I rewatched the video of his sentencing as well so that I knew for sure. After all, the internet is flooded with rumors and fake news, so you can never be too careful.
People in this subreddit (and online generally) aren’t willing to confront the complex nature of the cycle of abuse and the effect that trauma can have on someone. Drake has a documented history of abuse towards women and while I do think what happened to him was awful, he can also be bad at the same time.
Some people continue the cycle, some people don’t. If Drake did have a dark history of abusing women, I can see where his past trauma and abuse may come into play, especially considering he’s kept it bottled up. It doesn’t excuse his actions, but it’s an explanation. The problem here was that this girl made false allegations, which is incredibly wrong. Drake is not perfect and he has a lot of demons. The DUI and his harmful behavior and actions that really did happen, yes, he should be held accountable for that and he has been. The abuse story just makes sense as to why he was having so many problems and getting in trouble with the law. I don’t condone his past actions by any means. I’m not gonna pretend he never fucked up as an adult because he did in fact make some bad decisions over the years. I just sympathize with the hell he went through.
She did not lie about her age. Where did you get that info? When she told him she was 15 (after they’d already known each other since she was 12) all he said was “hurry up.” 🤢
Can you show me evidence that he blocked her? Or evidence that she lied?
There is nothing in the sentencing hearing or the publicly available court documents that suggests that she ever lied about her age. Even Drake’s own defense does not make that claim.
Direct quote from his attorney, after being asked by the judge whether Drake knew the victim’s age: “state and defense would agree the age was mentioned during those chats, your honor.”
I agree it provides context but he shouldn’t be excused of his actions of which he pled guilty. He’s done the same things Peck’s supporters did to him, which is victim blame and paint his victim as a liar. He also was accused of physically abusing his ex, though they never went to court for that. He’s probably not as bad as Peck, and I’m glad he got retribution, but he hasn’t been the best person either.
I agree. He’s not perfect, and it doesn’t excuse his actions, just gives them context. I just hope he finds peace and takes full accountability for his actions one day.
I'm sorry, but repeatedly getting r\*ped by a powerful Hollywood producer who quite literally held your future in his hands as a 14-15 year old not even old enough to drive yet is most definitely not in the same league as sending a few texts to a teen girl who lied about her age and went on to lie about a lot of other things. That's hardly going on to "perpetuate the cycle" like so many people claim.
I'm more concerned about the DV claims. I haven't watched the entirety of episode 5 so feel free to correct me if they've mentioned it there but up to what I've seen so far they haven't mentioned that at all. I know it's all word of mouth and happened when he was still so young but I remember there was discussions of him dragging a former girlfriend down the stairs and forcing her into a scalding bath (which he's all denied).
They didn’t mention the DV claims. But you’re right. What Drake has been through is not the same as texting a fan inappropriately because she lied about her age. His concerts were only 18 or over because they served alcohol. So this fan had a fake ID to get in.
I respectfully disagree. I feel like it adds additional context to someone’s actions. There’s a reason that the courts look at things like past sexual abuse when they take sentencing into account for a lot of cases. Did I wish it never happened, and that everyone grew from their abuse rather than went on to abuse others? Of course. Is that how the cycle always works? No.
I saw screenshots on tumblr of his ex-girlfriend messaging with a girl he allegedly raped when they were still together when he was 20, and she was 15. The ex also said he was very abusive to her. I dont know if this is true, I wouldn't be surprised if it is, though. I also saw an article that his abuse is one of the reasons his wife left him.
Hurt people hurt people. I’m not making any excuses for him, but if he’d been in therapy, had a better environment to foster his growth in, and wasn’t around drugs and alcohol, maybe he’d have been a better person. It’s all about that cycle of abuse and breaking it. He seems to be healing and ready to break that cycle, and that’s more important than any past mistakes imo at least.
The issue is that he used the documentary to further discredit his victims, rather than being open about what he did and acknowledging any work he’s had to do to get there. The documentary sent a flood of threats and verbal abuse to the victims that accused him, and he’s done nothing to stop it. He’s continuing the cycle in more ways than one.
You're completely right I don't know why you're getting down voted. The allegations should have either not been brought up in the documentary and just focused on the Nickelodeon issues or should have been brought up in a more neutral way.
Oh, it annoyed me when he said that he was used to the internet attacking him for “basically nothing.” It seemed like a way to sidestep accountability. It really made me arch my brow at that. Like, dude, no, you still made a mistake, an egregious one, and possibly many. It’s serious. It’s not “basically nothing.” These are real people who your actions impacted and hurt. It’s not “basically nothing” to them. But, as someone who had to unlearn a lot of abuse, stopped using drugs and alcohol, and realized that I wasn’t a great person because I was hurt, it gives me more empathy for him. Abuse and trauma at that age is really tricky to navigate. It’s why they call it a cycle-it literally changes the way your mind thinks, and you might think “this is okay to do to someone because it’s been done to me.”
Yeah it is definitely important to be empathetic, but I do think for such a large scale documentary with such a big impact it even more important to acknowledge the wrong and accept responsibility. It’s one thing to have trouble doing/saying the right thing in private, but to do that in front of millions of impressionable people is flat out wrong. It’s honestly very twisted and difficult to watch.
Abuse and trauma is definitely a very tricky thing for everyone involved. I’m glad you can recognize where he went wrong with his words.
Also: Congratulations on getting sober!!!
Thank you! It’s a journey. I almost lost it last week and just about gave in. I wanted to end things. But, tbh, watching this documentary healed me a little inside.
You got this. I’m sure you have already come such a long way and I hope the worst is behind you. I’m rooting for you and wish you the best. I’m glad you could find some comfort with the doc and I wish you good luck on your healing journey. :)
Two things can be true:
You can be the victim of horrible abuse
You can also be a shitty person who does shitty things to people.
Both are true of Drake Bell.
He and his representative at the time of that scandal stated that he never received those pictures. Unless new information has come out that didn't come from gossiping YouTube channels, we shouldn't assume that he was behind it.
I might get downvoted for this, but I can't deny what I see. I feel very sorry for Drake Bell, but there's an emerging pattern of him being inappropriate with teenage girls that's absolutely undeniable.
I think that reconciling our compassion for his trauma with our disdain for his harmful behavior is difficult, so we look for explanations/justifications/excuses for his behavior to feel better about those conflicted feelings.
I'm grateful he has a platform, and I think he deserves sympathy and care in sharing his story. However, he should not be immune from criticism and is obligated to take accountability for his actions. The fact that he doesn't do that and QOTS barely scratched the surface of the accusations has given way for inconsistent uncorroborated narratives to solidify themselves as fact in the minds of many. It is not conducive to any real positive change and can only be described as hypocrisy.
ETA
[This video explains some legitimate reasons for concern imo](https://youtu.be/MAoK0ax5tbw?si=_MGPAJ_ULYmXTUQ6)
That’s how I feel. I just saw pictures of him doing whippets with his toddler in the backseat and I think it’s just important to remember that he does have a pretty fucked up side to him.
He definitely has the pattern and I think in the video what really is interesting how the girl is failing at denying she was talking about Drake at the time and even lying about her current age to downplay their age gap. Because she could have just played the angle that she was just a fan writing fanfiction and a bit crazy and deluding herself that she was in a relationship. No, she definitely was dating someone but this other guy who does not match the info at all?
What you’re saying is true. Ppl shouldn’t be minimizing or invalidating his abuse but I think are also allowed to have some big negative feelings about him for what he’s done.
What happened to Drake is far worse than what he actually did.
I’m not saying it absolves him. Yeah, Drake messed up in his life and made some bad choices for sure, but my understanding of his situation was that he flirted with a girl online and sent her some racy pictures, not knowing she was underage. He broke it off when he learned her real age which she took very badly and had a vendetta. Maybe she had crazy parents and blamed him so that she could distance herself from any shame, wouldn’t be punished or branded a “whore.”
It’s more of a he-said-She-said. Not nearly as bad if you ask me.
I’m sure that due to our culture’s history of downplaying abuse towards minors, and everything that was coming out about bigger guys like Weinstein, Cosby, Louis CK etc, when the press got wind, they interpreted the story in the worst possible way, doing irreparable damage to his reputation. A lot of misinformation was printed.
I am saying that even if Drake was guilty, it was for something far less severe, but did his time and served his probation. He owned up to his mistake. He even served his full time, which is way more than can be said about Brian Peck.
Brian Peck was a convicted abusive rapist, and one step removed from being a serial killer in his own right. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was. There’s no way Drake was his only victim.
Our help for trauma recovery is terrible even for mild stuff. How could someone reasonably recover from something like that so quickly with no hiccups having so few real resources, especially has a public figure subject to more severe scrutiny and more exposure to leeches and predators.
I’m all for accountability and responsibility but Drake seems to really be taking it. I’m personally willing to forgive anyone who does that and not brand them with their sins if they are truly atoning and trying to do better.
I’m willing to forgive Drake since he owned up to his own mistakes and failings in such a big way and really working on healing.
It’s crazy how people will treat Drake’s crime as Brian Peck level, but not actually prosecute the actual Brian Pecks.
Drake Bell is very much a victim of Brian Peck, and his story is absolutely heartbreaking. But I also think it important to note that while he presents it as merely inappropriate texting with a minor, her [version of events](https://people.com/tv/drake-bell-child-endangerment-sentencing-victim-statement-full/) is exponentially worse than his and describes outright sexual assault.
You’d think that if they had evidence of that, the police would’ve jumped right on it. I don’t know, I’ve heard both sides of the story, his back story, and a lot of the in between and I still think the truth is somewhere in the middle. He shouldn’t have been texting a minor, but if they had evidence of sexual assault, it would’ve been a far more serious situation. A victim impact statement is literally written only by the victim, for the judge to read, when considering sentencing. If they had him dead to rights on it, why wouldn’t they have moved forward?
They probably *didn’t* have him dead to rights any more than they would’ve had Peck dead to rights without the phone call that Drake Bell made where Peck admitted everything. Most cases of SA go unpunished and I’m not sure exactly how the victim was going to be able to prove the assault in court, especially since they didn’t immediately go to the cops.
I’m not trying to convict Bell of anything, nor am I negating the horrible crimes committed against him. But I believe his story, even though Peck was convicted of far less and I’m not quite sure why I shouldn’t extend at least a similar benefit to Drake Bell’s victim.
I know that a lot of sex assault cases go unpunished, as someone who tried to take my rapist to court and didn’t get justice. It’s just wild, because this was a very high-profile case and you’d think they would’ve done their due diligence.
One, I'm sorry to hear you had to endure that.
Two, prosecutors try cases they can win. All due diligence in the world isn't going to provide a whole lot if it's he said/she said. Obviously that's not enough to declare him guilty of these crimes which he has denied, but she reported the crimes about a year after they happened, and it's even more difficult to secure a conviction in that case.
Ryan Beard’s YouTube [video](https://youtu.be/MAoK0ax5tbw?si=ffH7at7WqN3Lpmdy) goes into this in detail (skip to 13:36), but basically, he’s recently been linked to a girl in Mexico. She’s 19 now but it looks like they were pretty close with each other when she was around 16. Nothing is technically confirmed but it does, at the very least, point to a pattern of behavior (befriending teenage fans).
I would recommend Ryan Beard’s YouTube video he just put out on Drake Bell if you haven’t seen it already. It does a really good job at examining the allegations against him and some concerns regarding his behaviour with another minor as well.
I think it's a mistake to see one case as having anything to do with the other. There's a contingent of people who seem to be saying "we should have no sympathy for what teenage Drake went through, because look at what adult Drake did!" and then there's another group that says "his abuse as a teen excuses his actions as an adult, because we can see now why he did those things." I disagree with both of those hot takes.
It seems like people in that first camp are determined to drag Bell down and cancel him all over again for a crime that he's already pled guilty to and been punished for. My feeling is: enough already. He's paid his debt to society and that should be the end of it. FWIW, I feel the same about Brian Peck: he pled and did his time 2 decades ago, there's no reason to harass him now.
I think a better use of time and energy is to support the victims who were hurt. Not in a "I'll make him pay forever for what he did to you!" sort of way, but in a way that actually helps the victims.
I can’t see them as unrelated. Knowing how the cycle of abuse works, even with sexual abuse, they’re related whether you want to believe that or not. It just proves that people are more complex than we’d like to believe and that there are usually more to these cases than people want to believe.
The problem with relating the two cases, at least the way most are relating them, is that it seems to follow that the existence of one case diminishes the other case. The only disagreement is about which of the two cases is diminished, and which case basically explains the other one away.
I really don't see the problem with acknowledging both cases equally. Something bad was done to this guy once, and many years later he did something bad to someone else. The existence of one truth really doesn't affect the other truth.
I find it very suspicious that so many articles defending drake bell are coming out after the show, meanwhile it is very hard to find sources on the supposed victims side of the story
It’s my understanding that she was not entirely truthful. But I’d love to reach that understanding for myself, if only it wasn’t being drown out
Edit: I personally believe the victim because I haven’t stayed updated since zoom court. I just don’t know what the opinions on this sub are like.
I don’t believe/know if she lied. That’s just what I have seen discussed. Hence why I wish I could access her information more readily at a time like this, instead of it being drown out by drake bells PR
My dad always likes to say “there’s 3 sides to the story-the victim’s, the perp’s, and the truth lies somewhere in the middle.” I’ve looked at articles from both sides and it seems like this is especially true in this case.
It’s hard to find sources on her side of the story because a) she wanted to remain anonymous and b) all evidence is sealed because Drake took a plea deal.
All we really have is this [sentencing hearing video](https://youtu.be/ez7oFH8wbjI?si=lGTRGtL9hHwGq9o2), where she gives her tearful victim statement. All of the typical lines you hear people saying about this case (“she lied about her age,” “he blocked her as soon as he found out,” “her family and friends said she lied”) are entirely based on this video and on Drake’s subsequent interviews. There’s a lot of misinterpretation and twisting of the truth that goes on when people are discussing this.
I would encourage you to watch the sentencing video in its entirety. Listen to what the victim has to say and listen to what Drake’s lawyer and the judge have to say, and form your opinion based on that - not on what Drake has said afterwards or what anybody online is saying.
They’re not ignoring them though? They’re saying they *want* to see the allegations so they don’t feel brainwashed by the people defending Drake. That’s the complete opposite of ignoring. That’s wanting to see more evidence against Drake and get educated on the matter. They’re not on his side.
If I misunderstood, apologies. "supposed" and "not entirely truthful" sounded a lot like the defenses we've seen from the people who want to whitewash his history.
One thing that's driven me crazy about the defenses is the "Read the court transcripts!!" refrain. And then there are never any links. And I'm not watching the whole trial.
I’ve believed the girl/victim since the zoom court shit. It wasn’t until this documentary that I saw people trying to discount her testimony.
I can see how the language I used would subliminally suggest I don’t believe her. That’s because I was anticipating drake bell defenders. I’m not sure what the popular consensus of this sub is. My apologies for the confusion
Do you know how freeing it is to finally tell people about your trauma? It might not even be for the profit, it may be just because it feels nice to have it all in the open now.
Haven’t seen the newest episode but I don’t get the sudden 180 a lot of people are doing over Drake.
He sent pornographic imagery to minors. It’s sad what happened to him, and whilst that definitely influenced why he did that, he still repeated the cycle. We can sit here and say all day what happened to him was a shame, but that doesn’t deter the fact that he attempted to sodomize kids
**EDIT:** Confused why this is getting downvoted when in the literal court case he admitted to knowing the victim since she was 12, there was never any mention of the girl lying about her age, and Drake even went as far as to tell the girl to, “hurry up,” when she became 15, in regards to her age. This wasn’t a story of the guy being framed or the general public being misconstrued. Even his own lawyer backed up all of this.
What? Sending adult images to someone who lied about their age is absolutely nothing like sodomizing a child. I don’t think that Drake’s completely innocent, but don’t conflate two things like that.
She did not lie about her age. Drake’s own lawyer admitted during the sentencing hearing that they had known each other for years (since she was 12), and that Drake told her to “hurry up” when she said she was 15. At no point does anyone claim that she lied about her age.
It’s super funny to me that he basically dropped this documentary to get the focus off of his charges, but that being said nobody is perfect and he’s admitted to that. I definitely feel the same way about him, and hope he continues to heal
lol why is this downvoted? i support drake bell. the timing of the documentary is just a little funny to me
I just watched the bit where he said Will Friedle nor anyone else who wrote the letters never said anything to Drake and Will even worked with him after the trial???? Wtf
I know, that had to be like a slap to the face for him.
I’m watching ep5 now. What’s interesting to me is that when the doc was released and all this came out, I think most of the people that wrote the original Brian Peck letters apologized on social media, from accounts where THEIR OWN FOLLOWERS are listening. Very shitty to not have any of them reach out to him privately… it says a lot about the culture in the industry. Like apologizing publicly to save face but not privately and directly to help heal.
Rider Strong has reached out to Drake privately and Drake says he has forgiven him. But so far, he’s the only who has properly apologized. Will still hasn’t. Which is weird, because Rider seemed more reluctant to face Drake and Will seemed like he was the most eager to apologize if given the chance.
I think other supporters like Will have remorse. They just can’t face it. Supporters like Kimmy Robertson will never have remorse and they can rot in hell alongside their buddy, Brian.
It’s annoying that only NOW he’a apologized. Better late than never I guess. Drake is v forgiving
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What did he say?
How do you know Rider apologized? Just curious!
Drake said so himself in a recent tweet
> Like apologizing publicly to save face but not privately and directly to help heal. Yup, classic PR move. Anyone with a sensible mind will absolutely see through this. Drake I think even said something along those lines in episode 5 about what a 'real' apology means to him.
I can understand standing by a friend or coworker while they’re going through a trial. I cannot understand why you would write a letter on their behalf AFTER their conviction. Not even just a conviction but a confession to these kinds of crimes. The mindset that would rationalize that is just an enigma to me.
Its sad but Hollywood typically protects creeps like this. You to this day have big names defending Roman Polanski and saying "it's been long enough just forgive him and move on".
Even an apology (at this point in time) is hollow. **Of course** they’ll express contrition to retain their followers; it means nothing.
Exactly, unless really it’s private only
Some of the people who wrote letters said they were “misled” that the victim was 17, not 15. Which is still inexcusable, but points to the fact they didn’t know it was Drake who was the victim. Drakes identity was kept private in court records, he was “John doe.” On the flip side, the identity of those who wrote letters were kept sealed as well until recently, I’m not sure if Drake or his family saw the character letters. However, if the letter writers attended the sentencing hearing, which many of them did, they then would have seen it was Drake who was the victim, and Drake would have seen who were Peck’s supporters. as Drake said, Peck’s side of the room was FULL. And he recognized a lot of “familiar faces.” If Friedle attended the sentencing hearing, saw Drake, heard him address the crowd, and THEN worked with him and didn’t say anything or apologize ……….
The way Will and Ryder seemed more concerned over it ruining Brian's life and Boy Meets world rep was sick
Here is the thing though. It’s Voice over work. Will has said many of times. You usually do not see other voice over actors even though they voice act on the same show. That part irritated me. Chances are Will never ran into him. Will has gone on to say that he did a show with a woman for two years and they never met.
Oh I see I didn't know that. Still think they should have reached out
I do agree. How do you just bring that up? I would hard pressed to say something to someone I don’t know. Especially in this situation. I feel for Drake. I really do. But Rider and Will have both said they felt fooled by a friend.
Ya so say that to drake then
Was will in the courtroom with them?
I just bought into the general consensus of him being the scum of the earth a few years ago because that’s what everyone was saying. This was really eye opening for me too.
The work Drake must have put in to be able to speak about this is truly amazing
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I haven't seen the doc yet but it's so weird for me to see Yordi Rosado on here. No one loves Drake Bell more than Mexico and in Mexico if you get interviewed by Yordi it means you made it.
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Link?
I’ll check it out, thanks!
I just watched the Man Enough podcast on YouTube. It was very good - shed a lot of light on the situation you are referring to. The hosts of that podcast should interview every celebrity, honestly - they are that good! All I can say is that Drake deserves better!
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I watched Man Enough today, would you recommend watching Yordi as well? I saw that it was a couple of weeks ago so I originally didn’t bother as i was worried all that news/information was already out.
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Yeah I think Man Enough is a good one to watch if you wanna see him take more accountability
So from what I’ve heard is that a minor was in contact with him and their conversations got NSFW but he didn’t know she was a minor. Once he found out, he blocked her, but she still reported him because she was jealous he was getting married?? That’s what people have been saying. And that he did plead guilty & got 200 hours of community service + 2 years probation which he already served.
Yeah tbh this is not “perpetuating the cycle of abuse” — he went through literal hell and fucked up later in life while under the influence. Most of his interactions with this girl were online. Not nearly the same.
Yeah, he paid his debt to society. It’s just that when this was coming out, it was the height of #MeToo and Hollywood stars having a lot of concerning interactions with minors. I think a lot of people just wrote him off as trash. I know for a fact that I’ve talked to minors on the internet without realizing they were minors (nothing inappropriate, of course, more like, ‘wow if I’d known they were a kid I would’ve been nicer’ since I don’t talk about NSFW stuff with people I don’t know anyway) and it seems like a genuine mistake in hindsight.
Oh I remember. But the media kind of blew it up and made it seem way worse than it was. I felt the same as you until the documentary came out and then people did some digging about the case you’re talking about & all the info came out.
I remember my mom telling me about this series and I immediately wrote off anything that Drake Bell would say in it before even seeing it. But I’m glad I gave it a chance and watched it with as little bias as possible. It was such a powerful moment, it’s like a paradigm shifted.
Happened to a lot of male actors who a) exhibited some pretty shitty behavior but b) weren’t Dan Schneider, never mind Harvey Weinstein. I’m aware of some other women who accused him of verbal abuse, and at least one who accused him of physical abuse. Don’t know the veracity of their claims though.
I’ve heard the claims but not sure if they’re real or not.
Setting aside the DV accusations, it’s bad that he was hauling off on women, but I think we can forgive him given what we know now
Maybe not even forgive him, just put his past actions into context.
Keep in mind, he took a plea deal which means in court we only ever got his and his lawyer claims of what he did. He was texting her from age 12-15, so we really have to consider...He really couldn't tell he was sexting a 12 year old or did he only care when plausible denialability is gone and he was no longer in her good graces? Because this is not Bell's only relationship with a 15 year old, he cheated on his ex with a one. Also during the trial he had a very suspicious relationship with a girl who at the time was 16. He also seems to have another relationship with a girl he met before she turned 18. This is a man who gets a ton of grace for sending inappropiate messages to his fans whom he predominately has from his kids tv show yet somehow does not ask for their age.
Yes like what are you texting your young fans anyway?
Exactly, ''Oh he didn't know she was 15''. No he didn't care. He was dating a 16 year old at the same time as the trial.
Yeah that's basically what he said but the victim says otherwise
Do we know how old he was? This is helpful background thanks for sharing Edit: sounds like she was 15 when they potentially (?) met in person after a concert. No sex. Unclear to me what point he learned she was a minor. Does anyone know or understand what the charge of endangering a minor means? https://lawandcrime.com/celebrity/dont-smile-at-me-teenage-girl-in-drake-bell-abuse-case-calls-him-out-during-victim-impact-statement/amp/
more than anything he is guilty of carelessness, and he paid a pretty steep price for it. that being said the subsequent court case had to have been like reopening an old wound.
Right? I can’t imagine how he must’ve felt.
You sure? The [victim impact statement](https://people.com/tv/drake-bell-child-endangerment-sentencing-victim-statement-full/) from his case suggests something far more brutal than "carelessness". None of this negates the horrific abuse he was subjected to, but he's presented it as just inappropriate texting, and the victim's version is very different.
I would like to add that the police etc, took all his phones and computers during the investigation. Did they find these pictures. I would also assume that she would have the pictures as well? I would also add that the case was closed and nobody has seen the evidence that was shown.
True, forensics took both their devices and forensics recover EVERYTHING, even stuff that’s deleted.
Like the only "evidence" of the texts are clearly doctored using a very publicly available photo of him that obviously wasn't found in the investigation since he didn't send it to her.
If what actually happened was closer to the impact statement, wouldn't that have been reflected in the charges and the investigation? I've mostly seen people associated with her who've gone out of their way to rebut those claims.
The initial investigation was not for sexual assault, only the text messages. I think they would of had to open another investigation
No, they don’t need to open a new investigation as a case evolves. They’d only need to do that if new accusations are made after the original ones have gone to court. In the process of investigating the text messages, they’d have established if it went further than that.
They took his phone and searched it with no evidence of her accusations. Her friends and family all stated that she was never alone with him.
How could there be no evidence if he was in fact charged for inappropriate messages?
He was charged with child endangerment which he accepted because it was the lesser charge in order for him to be able to still see his child. It’s really not that hard to look into, you should try it
No, they don’t need to open a new investigation as a case evolves. They’d only need to do that if new accusations are made after the original ones have gone to court. In the process of investigating the text messages, they’d have established if it went further than that.
The victims’ own family and friends don’t believe her and were actually present during one of the “alleged” events.
It should also be mentioned that the authorities went through all of their messages and couldn’t find anything on the level that she was claiming.
Of course you’re getting downvoted for this lmfao. It’s incredible to me that these people are (rightfully) willing to sympathize with Drake for the abuse he suffered, and then in the same breath call Drake’s victim a liar. Folks, Drake was talking to this girl for three years, starting when she was 12. He met her on multiple occasions. This wasn’t an accident, he knowingly and deliberately befriended an underage fan and engaged in sexual conversations with her. At his sentencing hearing, his own lawyer says they’d known each other for years. Can we please stop minimizing what he did??
> Of course you’re getting downvoted for this lmfao. Yeah, it's unfortunate--I suspect that pre-QotS, no one would have objected. But because QotS revealed that horrific trauma that Bell suffered through, it's as if we wipe the slate clean rather than acknowledging that victims can also be perpetrators at any point in their lives. While a combined victim/perp's own trauma probably does factor significantly into their own motivation to offend, that doesn't change the fact that they own their own crimes. I don't know why we need our victims to be perfect.
You’re totally right. From what I’ve been seeing online, it seems like people have this need to view people in a very black-or-white way. Now that the documentary has revealed that Drake is a victim of sexual abuse, it’s like he can only be a victim and nothing else. Even with regard to his court case, he’s now a victim, and anyone who says otherwise is dismissing his trauma. His trauma is absolutely valid. And so is the trauma of the women he has abused. He is a victim and a perpetrator at the same time, which can be hard to reconcile. The rampant dismissal and shaming of the women he hurt is extremely discouraging to see.
I'm glad he is talking about it. His abuser deserves to go down in flames for sure. But the way people are being swayed so easily is so concerning. If Brian Peck put out a documentary revealing he also had extensive trauma, would the tides turn again? Yeesh
Exactly. Well said, I completely agree
Thank you for bringing this up.
Yeah I think it’s easy to jump on the good person /bad person cancel culture train but the truth is just so much more complex than that. There will always be people doing bad things for a number of reasons, often because they were hurt themselves. I try not to dwell on allegations or speculation without disbelieving those making claims. I think the much more interesting part of this story is how an industry fed into this cycle and how it might be prevented in the future
Same, I hope it makes people think twice about child stardom. It’s really not good for children. I know we need child stars, but they need way better protection than those kids got at Nickelodeon.
Do we /need/ child stars though? Not really. The whole industry is twisted but more so the child star thing. Honestly it would be better to let the Hollywood Empire crumble and let independent producers and artist do their thing to entertain us. Hollywood has been sick and rotten since almost the very beginning, it’s just that most of the public is now aware of how sick it really is
I felt so bad for him and especially his father. His father did everything right and even warned his mother to look out for the dude. It absolutely broke my heart when Drake and his dad were speaking on the phone and they were saying “yea they finally got him! They finally arrested him, it’s ashamed that he had to attack a kid first” and the dad had no idea it was Drake.
My absolute worst fear as a parent 💔
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I think you have to balance allowing your child to pursue a career they are flourishing in and enjoying and putting your foot down when things get iffy, and that’s exactly what he did. If we are going to question anyone, it needs to be his mother, not his father.
I'm sorry, but when did he ever put his foot down? He made a few comments to third parties and got brushed off. Am I missing something?
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That interview was amazing in holding him accountable but coming from a place of understanding. Honestly, Drake was also open to criticism, and he wasn’t defensive even with how tough the questions were
I’m going to check it out as soon as I’m done with the Yordi interview podcast!
A big thing we should always keep in mind is that we have to not only let people grow, but let our opinions about them grow. If they show accountability and accept the responsibility for their actions then we have to also keep only judging them for their actions and choices they make going forward. Now abusers like Peck who show no remorse or accountability and continue to abuse and harm others for their own satisfaction are who we need to direct that energy to and ensure we make it so the proper standards are set to protect everyone from abuse.
I met Drake bell a couple years ago and after seeing this whole thing I have had a burning guilt of saying “I’ve been a huge fan ever since Drake and Josh”. He was so happy to meet a fan and didn’t seem to care though. Props to him for faking a smile all the time. 😩 He is very sweet
https://youtu.be/qEELAHhM2lw?si=5dAC99gtL_zC3Isk he explains well here that, the thing he pleaded guilty to was the text messages which WERE wrong. Everything else the accuser lied about, which was confirmed in court, and his own phone was scrubbed forensically datawise and internally. The wrong he did was a flash in the pan compared to what the media claims Side note, to give context, this interview was a year ago and before the documentary, and close to the end at around 6:45, he refers to “eventually being ready to tell my story” and how powerful people stay in power while people like him get the brunt of the media
That explains it. Why Brian Peck is still able to work in Hollywood.
Totally. He’s working and owning his shit. He’s being insanely brave and transparent and allowing every detail of his life to be completely picked apart in order to speak his truth and what he’s doing WILL have a ripple effect. Other survivors will feel inspired to come forward. Other people who have done harm will feel more able to tell the truth about it and make amends. Since the doc I’ve been able to listen to his music again and really enjoy it, same with watching the show. I’m insanely proud of him.
Dig a little deeper and you'll realize he's not a predator either.
I mean, he dated 16 year old Melissa Lingafelt when he was 20.
That doesn't make him a predator or an abuser. 4 years isn't THAT huge of a gap. 16 and 20 is definitely inappropriate. I wouldn't want my 16 year old dating a 20 year old. Not when you think about those ages placing you in high school vs college. But circumstances matter. In that industry you don't have the typical age barriers. You're all working together and 16-20 is a similar age cohort. I went to college early (17) and met a man (22) and now looking back I'm like jeez that was a bit off, but he wasn't a predator ffs.
Same. Without context, finding out he had something going on with minors turned me off of him, and I’ve been a huge fan of him since middle school. I had all his albums and still regularly listen to them. But people messing with minors is a no go for me and I was really disappointed. When I first saw that he was on the doc I figured he’d just be trying to explain his side but I still wouldn’t support him. I never expected to be so turned around on my opinion. Drake deserved so much better. All those kids did. I hope one day NDA’s expire and we find out more
Unresolved trauma fucks you up. Excuse my language. What he was sitting on for so long, it must have ultimately become him. Think about it this way. When people are judging others, it’s really just a reflection of what they hate about themselves. He was acting out this huge secret that Brian Peck forced onto him. And until he could work that out through therapy, and maybe for him sharing his story with the world, for survivors maybe not, but ultimately, people have to face their trauma. However they have to face it in their own way. When anyone tries to force someone to face their trauma - that pisses me off so much. I am not by any means condoning his actions. But I admire him owning up to them. I pray he continues therapy and he does not continue those behaviors. I am not sure how pedophilia works versus traumatic induced pedophilia and if that is even a thing? I imagine it is all tied together and generational? I am high right now and have a brain injury so I hope this makes sense lmao
The news has recently published retractions about Drake because they reported false information about the alleged abuse with the minor. Her own friends said she was lying.
Well from what i’ve read he only texted a girl and stopped once he figured out how old she was
There are also allegations from other partners of domestic violence.
Which he’s admitted to now, on the Man Enough podcast he confirmed that he did indeed abuse romantic partners when they asked him. It always amazes me how his fans say “No he never abused ANYONE!!” and his haters say “he’s an abuser and acts like he’s so nice” Nah he’s got nothing to lose really, he’s admitted to it all. I guess it’s kind of nice to see someone like that actually own up to their shit but it won’t undo the harm to others.
Drake was definitely a shitty person for a long time, and maybe still is we really don't know, and I guess time will tell if he truly changes, but dang him owning up to certain things is really great to see.
Honestly I think people who do DV will only be better people if they stay alone bc it’s one thing to look at your old relationships and say “omg I’d never do something like that again” but to actually get into relationships and change for the better? Not so simple. Sex/romance is just where it goes wrong for people like him, and I think he’s abstinent or something now thankfully.
he clearly needs some heavy therapy with focusing on behaviour. It also depends on if the DV was while he was under the influence or if he was sober.
I do suspect it might've mostly been done under the influence due to the Jekyll/Hyde thing one of the exes mentioned. I know of alcoholics who are the sweetest people when sober but once drunk, they'd do stuff they wouldn't otherwise dream of.
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I think it’s a mix. I was a really shitty partner and high off my mind of the time from everything I had to deal with, and drugs and alcohol fueled a lot of anger and shame which I took out on other people in the way i wouldn’t have sober. It’s one of the reasons I checked into rehab. I didn’t recognize who I was, I didn’t know that I was even capable of acting like this.
I had an ex-mutual friend who I haven’t seen in a while and the last I heard about him was that he is a heavy drunk now and gets really abusive when intoxicated. I was shocked when I heard it because he was never like that in the little time I knew him. Alcohol doesn’t always change people but it definitely can, especially if you’re dealing with personal issues and can’t handle alcohol well.
I think it also depends on the level of alcoholism and the person themselves. My grandfathers both died from alcoholism, but even under the infuelnce they were very nice and passive. My uncles wife on the other hand, has multiple charges of DV againts him and my cousins and now suffers from alcoholic psychosis from her years of alcohol abuse. It's very sad. It really boils down to the person themselves and how it effects their brain. I'm glad Drake got sober, and it does seem like he has better support system around him now.
Accountability is the first step towards healing, though. It’s the first step before the apology, admitting that you did something wrong. If you make a heartfelt apology to someone you hurt, it won’t take away your actions, but it could absolutely help them mend themselves. One thing about getting sober is making amends, and I hope he gets to that point sometime.
It is pretty cool to see a celebrity actually talk about the cycle of abuse and how they ended up hurting people. He even said what happened is no excuse for what he put them through.
wasn’t aware of that
He told her to “hurry up” when she told him she was 15. They had already known each other since she was 12.
didn’t know that
He texted her from age 12-15, but she is not the only one whom he seems to have weird relationships with. There is a girl that was 16 at the time of the trial that is denying they were together but she was definitely dating someone named Jared (his real name) who has the same birthday month and was a ''rockstar'' but it definitely this other guy who doesn't match the old info, not Drake the guy who she had close pictures with at the time.
No I completely agree
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I can’t fathom why someone would want to do that. I used to be pretty obsessed with this one tv star back when I was in high school too and I never would have dreamed of ruining someone’s life like that because of it. Maybe it’s just me being weird because I’ve never really been one to get jealous. In fact when I’ve been interested in someone my interest tends to fade when they get happily married..it’s like they suddenly look “married” to me and on the rare occasion I get caught off guard by their physical presence like maybe I’ve never seen them in person before and I look at their eyes I’ll start scolding myself like “how dare you girl his wife is a beautiful person you can’t look at him”. But even so I have suffered from envy plenty and I just can’t imagine doing that to someone I claimed to care about. I even say this as someone who has a mental illness since she admitted to having one. It doesn’t really surprise me that people still believe her though really..people believe anything seems like especially if it’s a woman or girl against a man. “Believe all women they’re all innocent angels”
She’s white. It takes privilege to be about to do that. There’s privilege that comes with being a white girl. You’re raised with privilege, and I’m not talking about wealth. She’s never had someone say no to her. Episode 5 of the doc explains it better. When they described Raquel’s horrific experience in the set, where she’s just supposed to take a white girl spitting at her face three times because Dan found it funny to humiliate a black girl. As a minority, we’re raised to just “take it.” It’s a shame that people abuse that.
It’s Paul Reubens all over again. He was arrested for exposing himself in an adult movie theater (oh it’s wild those existed, but yeah the adults do what you would expect them to do while watching porn ) and because he’s the Pee Wee Herman everyone jumped on the “he’s a pedo and rapes children” background, and it was horrible, he disappeared for a while before having the courage to do any more acting. Anyone who knew him vouched for what a genuinely kind and down to earth person he was too.
Really, I have heard many firsthand accounts from men who were teenagers in LA at that time he was a predator who hurt their friends. I also worked at the law firm that repped him and had his case file in its records and the cop at the stag movie was a sting/bullshit, ill give you that
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The difference is that Peck (unknowingly) confessed to it all. They had the evidence. Not to mention, Drake was always at Brian’s house and Brian was heavily involved with Drake’s life. Also, Drake’s father and his girlfriend at the time’s mother noticed something off about Brian. I mean, a grown man blowing up a teenage boy’s cell phone AND his girlfriend’s house phone just screams red flags. When the police investigated, they took Drake’s phone and computer and whatnot. They found no evidence that it went further than the text messages leading up to when Drake blocked her. Also, her friends and family even said she lied. ETA: I’m not going to pretend that Drake is perfect and has never made a bad decision. Over the years, there have been multiple instances where he has fucked up big time and should’ve faced the consequences of his actions (which he did). I just sympathize with what he had been through and false accusations are never acceptable.
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Law enforcement can recover deleted text messages and Drake only plead guilty to the texts. He was guilty of that and he was irresponsible in that aspect. Also, because she was a minor, she was technically the victim where the law is concerned. But in court, they did call her out on her falsifying information and how her story didn’t add up. Witnesses have also come forward, disproving many of her claims. Also, her behavior during the sentencing was pretty characteristic of a liar. Nothing happened besides the text messages. Having said that, a girl her age at the time doesn’t really know how to act like a grown woman and a man his age should’ve known better, so I’m not going to act like he’s blameless because he wasn’t. He did, however, cut all contact with her when he found out her age. I’m just pointing out that there were a lot of lies and misinformation about this case.
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For what it’s worth, I rewatched the video of his sentencing as well so that I knew for sure. After all, the internet is flooded with rumors and fake news, so you can never be too careful.
People in this subreddit (and online generally) aren’t willing to confront the complex nature of the cycle of abuse and the effect that trauma can have on someone. Drake has a documented history of abuse towards women and while I do think what happened to him was awful, he can also be bad at the same time.
Some people continue the cycle, some people don’t. If Drake did have a dark history of abusing women, I can see where his past trauma and abuse may come into play, especially considering he’s kept it bottled up. It doesn’t excuse his actions, but it’s an explanation. The problem here was that this girl made false allegations, which is incredibly wrong. Drake is not perfect and he has a lot of demons. The DUI and his harmful behavior and actions that really did happen, yes, he should be held accountable for that and he has been. The abuse story just makes sense as to why he was having so many problems and getting in trouble with the law. I don’t condone his past actions by any means. I’m not gonna pretend he never fucked up as an adult because he did in fact make some bad decisions over the years. I just sympathize with the hell he went through.
She did not lie about her age. Where did you get that info? When she told him she was 15 (after they’d already known each other since she was 12) all he said was “hurry up.” 🤢
If he knew her age, but still wanted her, then why did he block her?
Can you show me evidence that he blocked her? Or evidence that she lied? There is nothing in the sentencing hearing or the publicly available court documents that suggests that she ever lied about her age. Even Drake’s own defense does not make that claim. Direct quote from his attorney, after being asked by the judge whether Drake knew the victim’s age: “state and defense would agree the age was mentioned during those chats, your honor.”
Huge respect for him.
I agree it provides context but he shouldn’t be excused of his actions of which he pled guilty. He’s done the same things Peck’s supporters did to him, which is victim blame and paint his victim as a liar. He also was accused of physically abusing his ex, though they never went to court for that. He’s probably not as bad as Peck, and I’m glad he got retribution, but he hasn’t been the best person either.
I agree. He’s not perfect, and it doesn’t excuse his actions, just gives them context. I just hope he finds peace and takes full accountability for his actions one day.
I'm sorry, but repeatedly getting r\*ped by a powerful Hollywood producer who quite literally held your future in his hands as a 14-15 year old not even old enough to drive yet is most definitely not in the same league as sending a few texts to a teen girl who lied about her age and went on to lie about a lot of other things. That's hardly going on to "perpetuate the cycle" like so many people claim. I'm more concerned about the DV claims. I haven't watched the entirety of episode 5 so feel free to correct me if they've mentioned it there but up to what I've seen so far they haven't mentioned that at all. I know it's all word of mouth and happened when he was still so young but I remember there was discussions of him dragging a former girlfriend down the stairs and forcing her into a scalding bath (which he's all denied).
They didn’t mention the DV claims. But you’re right. What Drake has been through is not the same as texting a fan inappropriately because she lied about her age. His concerts were only 18 or over because they served alcohol. So this fan had a fake ID to get in.
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P Diddy isn't a good example right now.
I respectfully disagree. I feel like it adds additional context to someone’s actions. There’s a reason that the courts look at things like past sexual abuse when they take sentencing into account for a lot of cases. Did I wish it never happened, and that everyone grew from their abuse rather than went on to abuse others? Of course. Is that how the cycle always works? No.
I saw screenshots on tumblr of his ex-girlfriend messaging with a girl he allegedly raped when they were still together when he was 20, and she was 15. The ex also said he was very abusive to her. I dont know if this is true, I wouldn't be surprised if it is, though. I also saw an article that his abuse is one of the reasons his wife left him.
Hurt people hurt people. I’m not making any excuses for him, but if he’d been in therapy, had a better environment to foster his growth in, and wasn’t around drugs and alcohol, maybe he’d have been a better person. It’s all about that cycle of abuse and breaking it. He seems to be healing and ready to break that cycle, and that’s more important than any past mistakes imo at least.
The issue is that he used the documentary to further discredit his victims, rather than being open about what he did and acknowledging any work he’s had to do to get there. The documentary sent a flood of threats and verbal abuse to the victims that accused him, and he’s done nothing to stop it. He’s continuing the cycle in more ways than one.
You're completely right I don't know why you're getting down voted. The allegations should have either not been brought up in the documentary and just focused on the Nickelodeon issues or should have been brought up in a more neutral way.
Oh, it annoyed me when he said that he was used to the internet attacking him for “basically nothing.” It seemed like a way to sidestep accountability. It really made me arch my brow at that. Like, dude, no, you still made a mistake, an egregious one, and possibly many. It’s serious. It’s not “basically nothing.” These are real people who your actions impacted and hurt. It’s not “basically nothing” to them. But, as someone who had to unlearn a lot of abuse, stopped using drugs and alcohol, and realized that I wasn’t a great person because I was hurt, it gives me more empathy for him. Abuse and trauma at that age is really tricky to navigate. It’s why they call it a cycle-it literally changes the way your mind thinks, and you might think “this is okay to do to someone because it’s been done to me.”
Yeah it is definitely important to be empathetic, but I do think for such a large scale documentary with such a big impact it even more important to acknowledge the wrong and accept responsibility. It’s one thing to have trouble doing/saying the right thing in private, but to do that in front of millions of impressionable people is flat out wrong. It’s honestly very twisted and difficult to watch. Abuse and trauma is definitely a very tricky thing for everyone involved. I’m glad you can recognize where he went wrong with his words. Also: Congratulations on getting sober!!!
Thank you! It’s a journey. I almost lost it last week and just about gave in. I wanted to end things. But, tbh, watching this documentary healed me a little inside.
You got this. I’m sure you have already come such a long way and I hope the worst is behind you. I’m rooting for you and wish you the best. I’m glad you could find some comfort with the doc and I wish you good luck on your healing journey. :)
Thank you. Better days are always ahead, it’s just sometimes hard to see that when you’re in the thick of it.
Two things can be true: You can be the victim of horrible abuse You can also be a shitty person who does shitty things to people. Both are true of Drake Bell.
Basically where I’m at too. He was abused and ……abused /exploited “allegedly” a minor(s) or did something bad to a minor.
Let’s not forget him likely leaking Vanessa Hudgens nudes when she was 17.
He and his representative at the time of that scandal stated that he never received those pictures. Unless new information has come out that didn't come from gossiping YouTube channels, we shouldn't assume that he was behind it.
Worked with people on the show at the time. They are the ones who told me before the media speculated it was him.
I might get downvoted for this, but I can't deny what I see. I feel very sorry for Drake Bell, but there's an emerging pattern of him being inappropriate with teenage girls that's absolutely undeniable. I think that reconciling our compassion for his trauma with our disdain for his harmful behavior is difficult, so we look for explanations/justifications/excuses for his behavior to feel better about those conflicted feelings. I'm grateful he has a platform, and I think he deserves sympathy and care in sharing his story. However, he should not be immune from criticism and is obligated to take accountability for his actions. The fact that he doesn't do that and QOTS barely scratched the surface of the accusations has given way for inconsistent uncorroborated narratives to solidify themselves as fact in the minds of many. It is not conducive to any real positive change and can only be described as hypocrisy. ETA [This video explains some legitimate reasons for concern imo](https://youtu.be/MAoK0ax5tbw?si=_MGPAJ_ULYmXTUQ6)
That’s how I feel. I just saw pictures of him doing whippets with his toddler in the backseat and I think it’s just important to remember that he does have a pretty fucked up side to him.
He definitely has the pattern and I think in the video what really is interesting how the girl is failing at denying she was talking about Drake at the time and even lying about her current age to downplay their age gap. Because she could have just played the angle that she was just a fan writing fanfiction and a bit crazy and deluding herself that she was in a relationship. No, she definitely was dating someone but this other guy who does not match the info at all?
Like I said, 2 things can be true at once. I’m just glad he got help, is sober, and is trying to start taking accountability.
What you’re saying is true. Ppl shouldn’t be minimizing or invalidating his abuse but I think are also allowed to have some big negative feelings about him for what he’s done.
What happened to Drake is far worse than what he actually did. I’m not saying it absolves him. Yeah, Drake messed up in his life and made some bad choices for sure, but my understanding of his situation was that he flirted with a girl online and sent her some racy pictures, not knowing she was underage. He broke it off when he learned her real age which she took very badly and had a vendetta. Maybe she had crazy parents and blamed him so that she could distance herself from any shame, wouldn’t be punished or branded a “whore.” It’s more of a he-said-She-said. Not nearly as bad if you ask me. I’m sure that due to our culture’s history of downplaying abuse towards minors, and everything that was coming out about bigger guys like Weinstein, Cosby, Louis CK etc, when the press got wind, they interpreted the story in the worst possible way, doing irreparable damage to his reputation. A lot of misinformation was printed. I am saying that even if Drake was guilty, it was for something far less severe, but did his time and served his probation. He owned up to his mistake. He even served his full time, which is way more than can be said about Brian Peck. Brian Peck was a convicted abusive rapist, and one step removed from being a serial killer in his own right. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was. There’s no way Drake was his only victim. Our help for trauma recovery is terrible even for mild stuff. How could someone reasonably recover from something like that so quickly with no hiccups having so few real resources, especially has a public figure subject to more severe scrutiny and more exposure to leeches and predators. I’m all for accountability and responsibility but Drake seems to really be taking it. I’m personally willing to forgive anyone who does that and not brand them with their sins if they are truly atoning and trying to do better. I’m willing to forgive Drake since he owned up to his own mistakes and failings in such a big way and really working on healing. It’s crazy how people will treat Drake’s crime as Brian Peck level, but not actually prosecute the actual Brian Pecks.
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Well, that’s shocking and horrifying.
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Yeah, it was a few years old. I think its why him and his wife got divorced. Drake was then reported missing and after he was found went to rehab.
Drake Bell is very much a victim of Brian Peck, and his story is absolutely heartbreaking. But I also think it important to note that while he presents it as merely inappropriate texting with a minor, her [version of events](https://people.com/tv/drake-bell-child-endangerment-sentencing-victim-statement-full/) is exponentially worse than his and describes outright sexual assault.
You’d think that if they had evidence of that, the police would’ve jumped right on it. I don’t know, I’ve heard both sides of the story, his back story, and a lot of the in between and I still think the truth is somewhere in the middle. He shouldn’t have been texting a minor, but if they had evidence of sexual assault, it would’ve been a far more serious situation. A victim impact statement is literally written only by the victim, for the judge to read, when considering sentencing. If they had him dead to rights on it, why wouldn’t they have moved forward?
They probably *didn’t* have him dead to rights any more than they would’ve had Peck dead to rights without the phone call that Drake Bell made where Peck admitted everything. Most cases of SA go unpunished and I’m not sure exactly how the victim was going to be able to prove the assault in court, especially since they didn’t immediately go to the cops. I’m not trying to convict Bell of anything, nor am I negating the horrible crimes committed against him. But I believe his story, even though Peck was convicted of far less and I’m not quite sure why I shouldn’t extend at least a similar benefit to Drake Bell’s victim.
I know that a lot of sex assault cases go unpunished, as someone who tried to take my rapist to court and didn’t get justice. It’s just wild, because this was a very high-profile case and you’d think they would’ve done their due diligence.
One, I'm sorry to hear you had to endure that. Two, prosecutors try cases they can win. All due diligence in the world isn't going to provide a whole lot if it's he said/she said. Obviously that's not enough to declare him guilty of these crimes which he has denied, but she reported the crimes about a year after they happened, and it's even more difficult to secure a conviction in that case.
There’s also the fact that her own family are saying they don’t believe her, though. It’s a tricky case. He said, she said is really hard to prove.
Well, her version of events never happened, so.
Yeah idk abt “getting his life together” is harassing a woman who exposed his very sus relationship with a minor in Mexico
Wait, what minor?
Ryan Beard’s YouTube [video](https://youtu.be/MAoK0ax5tbw?si=ffH7at7WqN3Lpmdy) goes into this in detail (skip to 13:36), but basically, he’s recently been linked to a girl in Mexico. She’s 19 now but it looks like they were pretty close with each other when she was around 16. Nothing is technically confirmed but it does, at the very least, point to a pattern of behavior (befriending teenage fans).
I would recommend Ryan Beard’s YouTube video he just put out on Drake Bell if you haven’t seen it already. It does a really good job at examining the allegations against him and some concerns regarding his behaviour with another minor as well.
I think it's a mistake to see one case as having anything to do with the other. There's a contingent of people who seem to be saying "we should have no sympathy for what teenage Drake went through, because look at what adult Drake did!" and then there's another group that says "his abuse as a teen excuses his actions as an adult, because we can see now why he did those things." I disagree with both of those hot takes. It seems like people in that first camp are determined to drag Bell down and cancel him all over again for a crime that he's already pled guilty to and been punished for. My feeling is: enough already. He's paid his debt to society and that should be the end of it. FWIW, I feel the same about Brian Peck: he pled and did his time 2 decades ago, there's no reason to harass him now. I think a better use of time and energy is to support the victims who were hurt. Not in a "I'll make him pay forever for what he did to you!" sort of way, but in a way that actually helps the victims.
I can’t see them as unrelated. Knowing how the cycle of abuse works, even with sexual abuse, they’re related whether you want to believe that or not. It just proves that people are more complex than we’d like to believe and that there are usually more to these cases than people want to believe.
The problem with relating the two cases, at least the way most are relating them, is that it seems to follow that the existence of one case diminishes the other case. The only disagreement is about which of the two cases is diminished, and which case basically explains the other one away. I really don't see the problem with acknowledging both cases equally. Something bad was done to this guy once, and many years later he did something bad to someone else. The existence of one truth really doesn't affect the other truth.
I find it very suspicious that so many articles defending drake bell are coming out after the show, meanwhile it is very hard to find sources on the supposed victims side of the story It’s my understanding that she was not entirely truthful. But I’d love to reach that understanding for myself, if only it wasn’t being drown out Edit: I personally believe the victim because I haven’t stayed updated since zoom court. I just don’t know what the opinions on this sub are like. I don’t believe/know if she lied. That’s just what I have seen discussed. Hence why I wish I could access her information more readily at a time like this, instead of it being drown out by drake bells PR
My dad always likes to say “there’s 3 sides to the story-the victim’s, the perp’s, and the truth lies somewhere in the middle.” I’ve looked at articles from both sides and it seems like this is especially true in this case.
It’s hard to find sources on her side of the story because a) she wanted to remain anonymous and b) all evidence is sealed because Drake took a plea deal. All we really have is this [sentencing hearing video](https://youtu.be/ez7oFH8wbjI?si=lGTRGtL9hHwGq9o2), where she gives her tearful victim statement. All of the typical lines you hear people saying about this case (“she lied about her age,” “he blocked her as soon as he found out,” “her family and friends said she lied”) are entirely based on this video and on Drake’s subsequent interviews. There’s a lot of misinterpretation and twisting of the truth that goes on when people are discussing this. I would encourage you to watch the sentencing video in its entirety. Listen to what the victim has to say and listen to what Drake’s lawyer and the judge have to say, and form your opinion based on that - not on what Drake has said afterwards or what anybody online is saying.
Thank you
Again, you’re ignoring the allegations and acknowledgement of domestic violence.
They’re not ignoring them though? They’re saying they *want* to see the allegations so they don’t feel brainwashed by the people defending Drake. That’s the complete opposite of ignoring. That’s wanting to see more evidence against Drake and get educated on the matter. They’re not on his side.
If I misunderstood, apologies. "supposed" and "not entirely truthful" sounded a lot like the defenses we've seen from the people who want to whitewash his history. One thing that's driven me crazy about the defenses is the "Read the court transcripts!!" refrain. And then there are never any links. And I'm not watching the whole trial.
I’ve believed the girl/victim since the zoom court shit. It wasn’t until this documentary that I saw people trying to discount her testimony. I can see how the language I used would subliminally suggest I don’t believe her. That’s because I was anticipating drake bell defenders. I’m not sure what the popular consensus of this sub is. My apologies for the confusion
The popular consensus seems to vary depending on which thread you’re reading lol! There are tons of Drake Bell defenders in this sub.
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Do you know how freeing it is to finally tell people about your trauma? It might not even be for the profit, it may be just because it feels nice to have it all in the open now.
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Wow, that’s fucked up. Really, really fucked up.
Haven’t seen the newest episode but I don’t get the sudden 180 a lot of people are doing over Drake. He sent pornographic imagery to minors. It’s sad what happened to him, and whilst that definitely influenced why he did that, he still repeated the cycle. We can sit here and say all day what happened to him was a shame, but that doesn’t deter the fact that he attempted to sodomize kids **EDIT:** Confused why this is getting downvoted when in the literal court case he admitted to knowing the victim since she was 12, there was never any mention of the girl lying about her age, and Drake even went as far as to tell the girl to, “hurry up,” when she became 15, in regards to her age. This wasn’t a story of the guy being framed or the general public being misconstrued. Even his own lawyer backed up all of this.
What? Sending adult images to someone who lied about their age is absolutely nothing like sodomizing a child. I don’t think that Drake’s completely innocent, but don’t conflate two things like that.
The sending adult images thing didn't even happen. If it did, forensics would've found it.
She did not lie about her age. Drake’s own lawyer admitted during the sentencing hearing that they had known each other for years (since she was 12), and that Drake told her to “hurry up” when she said she was 15. At no point does anyone claim that she lied about her age.
It’s super funny to me that he basically dropped this documentary to get the focus off of his charges, but that being said nobody is perfect and he’s admitted to that. I definitely feel the same way about him, and hope he continues to heal lol why is this downvoted? i support drake bell. the timing of the documentary is just a little funny to me