Drake Bellwon’t use his childhood traumas to excuse the hurt he inflicted on his victim from his 2021 child endangerment charges.
In PEOPLE’s first look at Bell’s appearance on the mental health seriesThe Man Enough Podcast, the 37-year-old singer-actor dispels the notion that a “moment of weakness” can rationalize causing harm to others.
“Even in moments of weakness, you need to be able to discern and recognize,” theDrake & Joshalum says. “You can’t just blame a moment of weakness of why you got in your car when you were drunk and you crashed into somebody and hurt them.”
He continues, “Even though we have had these traumas and we’ve had things that we’ve experienced, I hate to say, ‘Oh, that’s why,’ because that’s not going to help me move forward and change my behavior.”
Host andJane the VirginstarJustin Baldonithen asked, “So that means you own that you should’ve never been texting her in the first place?”
Drake Bell is pictured attending the Thirst Project’s Inaugural Legacy Summit held at Pepperdine University on July 20, 2019 in Malibu, California.Michael Tran/Getty
Michael Tran/Getty
“A hundred percent,” Bell answered, referring to the 19-year-old girl who accused him of sexual assault in 2021.
During his sentencing afterpleading guiltyto attempted child endangerment and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, his victim gavean impact statementalleging Bell groomed her from the age of 12 and sexually assaulted her when she was 15.
Quiet on Setbrought to light several bombshells related to the television network, including Bell revealing that dialogue coach Brian Peckrepeatedly molested him as a child.
Drake Bell in the ID documentary ‘Quiet on Set’.Courtesy Investigation Discovery
Courtesy Investigation Discovery
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual abuse, help is available. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 or go to the NO MORE Global Directory atnomoredirectory.orgto find support.
source: people.com
