Drake Bellis processing his trauma through new music.
Several days after the singer/actor, 37, revealed he was avictim of sexual abusewhile working as a child actor on Nickelodeon, he’s released “I Kind of Relate,” a newsongabout his experience and an accompanyingmusic video.
The project seemingly alludes to his past, as the song finds him singing of “running away / From the abuse and all the shame,” while the visual sees him appearing on a television set that resembles his former Nickelodeon series,Drake and Josh.
Drake Bell recreates the ‘Drake and Josh’ set in the music video for ‘I Kind Of Relate’.Drake Bell/YouTube
Drake Bell/YouTube
Bell himself then appears in the video, sitting in a car with his face bloodied, as if he has just survived a crash.
“I kind of relate / I found beauty in my pain / I’m running away / From the abuse and all the shame,” he sings on the pop-rock song. “‘Cause no one comes / To my house anymore / No one knocks on my door / I kind of relate / The wrong decisions I have made / I wanted to stay / But I couldn’t last another day / My golden days / They seem so far and gray / So I’m running away (running away).”
Drake Bell at the Thirst Project’s Inaugural Legacy Summit held at Pepperdine University on July 20, 2019.Michael Tran/Getty
Michael Tran/Getty
Shortly after “I Kind of Relate” dropped on Monday, the former cast member ofThe Amanda Showtook toInstagramto open up about the genesis behind the car crash imagery in the music video.
“For those who might not get some of the references in the video. This was my car accident,” he wrote in the caption of a photo of himself in a hospital bed with his hands and face bloodied.
“I was stopped at a red light and someone fell asleep at the wheel and hit me head on at about 60 mph,” he continued. “I broke my jaw in three places fractured my neck and lost 9 teeth. My jaw was wired shut for six months. Luckily I was driving a 1966 Ford Mustang and the strength of the car kept it from crushing in on me saving my life.”
Drake Bell at the ‘Teen People’ Young Hollywood Issue party on August 7, 2004.Frazer Harrison/Getty
Frazer Harrison/Getty
“The clip reveals that former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell will be sharing publicly, for the first time, the story of the abuse he suffered at the hands of Brian Peck, his former dialogue coach who was convicted in 2004 for his crimes against Drake and ordered to register as a sex offender,” Warner Bros. Discovery said in a press release shared with PEOPLE.
In 2004, in connection with Bell’s case, Peck pleaded no contest to a charge of oral copulation with a minor under 16 as well as a charge of performing a lewd act with a teenager. Bell’s identity as the victim was not made public at the time. Peck spent 16 months in prison and was mandated to register as a sex offender.
The four-part program, which premiered on Sunday and resumes on Monday at 9 p.m. ET/PT, explores Bell’s experience, and sheds light on other anecdotes about the toxic, dangerous culture behind some of the most beloved children’s shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Bell is among the performers who appear in the docuseries. He previously starred on Nickelodeon’sAll ThatandThe Amanda Showfrom 1999 to 2002 before landing his own series with the network,Drake & Josh, in 2004.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
source: people.com
