Drake Bell says he and former Nickelodeon exec Dan Schneider have spoken: EXCLUSIVE

This story discusses child sexual abuse. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 800-656-4673 to reach the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. You can also visit the Child Help Hotline for additional support.

Drake Bell is opening up about his relationship with the former Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider, who’s a central figure in the Investigation Discovery docuseries “Quiet on Set.”

In a new interview with NBC News’ Kate Snow, Bell was asked about Schneider’s defamation lawsuit filed against the people and companies behind “Quiet on Set,” alleging they wrongly implied he sexually abused child actors.

“I get asked a lot about other things in the documentary,” he responded. “I get asked about other stories that are coming out. And it’s really hard for me because I don’t want to take away from anybody’s stories.” He also said that he and Schneider have spoken.

“Quiet on Set’s” five episodes detail the allegedly toxic atmosphere at Nickelodeon, a children’s entertainment network, in the 1990s and early aughts. Schneider, creating and presiding over some of the network’s biggest shows like “All That” and “The Amanda Show,” guided its ascent.

Bell, who starred in both “The Amanda Show” and the sitcom “Drake & Josh,” is among the former Nickelodeon talent who opened up in the docuseries. Bell’s interviews in “Quiet on Set” are focused not on Schneider, however, but on his experiences as a victim of sexual abuse.

Bell came forward in “Quiet on Set” as the plaintiff in the 2003 case against Brian Peck, an acting and dialogue coach. Court records show Peck pleaded no contest to lewd acts upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older and oral copulation of a person under 16. He served over a year in prison and was made to register as a sex offender. Peck’s attorney in the 2003 case has not returned NBC News’ requests for comment.

In the documentary, Bell said Schneider, the showrunner of “Drake & Josh” at the time, was the “only person” there for him among Nickelodeon executives following Peck’s arrest. He added he’s “not certain how many people knew.” Many prominent names in Hollywood submitted letters to the court in support of Peck at the time, but Schneider was not among them, according to “Quiet on Set.”

After Bell revealed his identity, which had been anonymous until that point, Nickelodeon said in a statement to NBC News, “Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.”

Other former cast members and staff writers detail specific incidents with Schneider in “Quiet on Set,” including allegations of hostile work environments. The documentary also resurfaces jokes with sexual innuendos that made it into Nickelodeon’s children’s programming. “Zoey 101” actor Alexa Nikolas said in the documentary that she felt uncomfortable being put in sexually suggestive scenarios.

“Every scene was approved by the network and these shows are all still being aired today,” a spokesperson for Schneider told NBC News after “Quiet on Set’s’” release. “If there was an actual problem, they would be taken down, but they air constantly all over the world, enjoyed by kids and parents.”

Schneider, who does not appear in the documentary, acknowledged in a March 19 video on his YouTube channel that the jokes could be seen as inappropriate for children.

“Those jokes (were) written for a kid audience because kids thought they were funny and only funny, OK?” he said. “Now we have some adults looking back at them 20 years later through their lens, and they’re looking at them and they’re saying, ‘Oh, you know, I don’t think that’s appropriate for a kid show,’ and I have no problem with that. If that’s how anyone feels, let’s cut those jokes out of the show — just like I would have done 20 years ago.”

In his interview with Snow, Bell said, “It’s a difficult situation. I don’t know if it was what I was going through at the time — maybe, a lot of times, I was not seeing other things around me. But the set, for me, when I wasn’t experiencing things with (Peck), was my escape. And I felt at home.”

Bell echoed that sentiment in “Quiet on Set.” When Peck was arrested in 2003, Bell was shooting “Drake & Josh.” He said in the documentary, “Thank God I loved what I was doing. When I was on set, doing a scene with (co-star) Josh (Peck), I was able to lose myself and just have fun.”

Schneider addressed his behavior in his March 19 video.

“I wish I could go back … and just do a better job and never ever feel like it was OK to be an a–hole to anyone, ever,” he said. “I’d just be nicer as often as possible and listen more to the people on my team, and I would do everything that I could to make sure that everyone had a good experience.”

After filing a lawsuit May 1 against “Quiet on Set” directors Mary Robertson and Emma Schwartz, Warner Brothers Discovery, Maxine Productions and Sony Pictures Television, Schneider admitted to being a “bad leader” at times.

“I am sincerely apologetic and regretful for that behavior, and I will continue to take accountability for it,” he said in an email to NBC News.

The rationale behind the lawsuit is, per the filing, not Schneider’s workplace behavior, but that the defendants “falsely state or imply that Schneider … sexually abused the children who worked on his television shows.”

The “Quiet on Set” creators did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com