Trigger warning: child abuse, sexual abuse, grooming
An uncomfortable clip featuring a young Leonardo DiCaprio with convicted sex offender Brian Peck has resurfaced amid renewed scrutiny due to an upcoming TV series alleging abuse of child actors, including claims made by child actor star Drake Bell.
After making brief appearances in several TV shows starting at the age of five, the at-the-time child actor Leonardo secured his breakthrough role at the age of 15 in the 1990s TV series Parenthood.
Highlights
- Brian Peck, a convicted sex offender, called young Leonardo DiCaprio "hot" in a resurfaced clip.
- The discomforting footage is from the 1990s TV show Growing Pains, featuring Leonardo when he was 17 years old.
- Brian was sentenced to 16 months in prison in 2004 for child sex abuse against a separate Nickelodeon actor.
He subsequently starred as Luke Brower in the TV series Growing Pains, which is where Leonardo worked with Brian.
A clip featuring a young Leonardo DiCaprio with convicted sex offender Brian Peck resurfaced amid a series on abuse of child actors
Image credits: Toglenn
A clip from behind-the-scenes footage from the show, which was filmed in December 1991, has now gone viral.
It showed 17-year-old Leonardo with then-31-year-old Brian. In the clip, Brian was filmed wrapping his arm around the young actor as the two appeared incredibly close.
Teen Leo was seen quipping: “Brian is the famous artist, and we always make fun of each other and portray each other in silly, satirical ways.”
Brian went on to chime in: “Leo’s job on this set, for some reason, is to make fun of me all day long.”
Image credits: Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images
At some point, the disgraced actor and filmmaker was seen telling the camera: “Leo, as you know, is the latest, hottest, hunkiest teen idol there is.”
“Look!” he gestured up and down over Leo’s body before adding: “Speaking of hunky, huh?”
While the Titanic star has never indicated being one of Brian’s numerous victims, the clip was initially included in the 2016 documentary An Open Secret, which explored the sexual abuse of children within the entertainment industry in Hollywood.
Brian Peck has been in the headlines in recent weeks as a result of Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV
Image credits: Elgin Police Department
Moreover, Joe Bell, the father of former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell, an alleged victim of Brian, referenced the footage from the highly anticipated documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, as per US Magazine.
In the third part of the upcoming series, Joe was filmed in his confessional saying: “I saw this video of Brian Peck on Growing Pains with Leonardo DiCaprio grabbing his shoulders and running [his hand] down his arm.
“That’s the kind of behavior I saw him [do] with my son.
“The same freaking behavior.”
Image credits: Investigation Discovery
Brian Peck has been in the headlines in recent weeks as a result of Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, set to air on March 17 and 18, 2024.
The actor, who also worked as a dialogue coach was sentenced to 16 months in prison in 2004 after he pleaded no contest to two counts of child sex abuse against a then-unknown Nickelodeon child actor.
A Los Angeles Police Department press release published in August 2003 revealed: “Detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Sexually Exploited Child Unit, Juvenile Division, arrested 43-year-old Brian Richard Peck at his residence in Valley Glen.
Behind-the-scenes footage of Growing Pains featured 17-year-old Leonardo with then-31-year-old Brian
Image credits: An Open Secret
“He was arrested for Penal Code section 288 (c)(1), Lewd Acts with a Child.
“The lewd acts with the minor occurred approximately two years ago at Peck’s residence in the 13000 block of Delano Street, Valley Glen. At the time, Peck was coaching the victim.
“The investigation into Peck began two weeks ago when the minor’s family reported that Peck had molested the child over a six-month period.”
Image credits: An Open Secret
At the time, Brian had been working as a dialect coach with the unnamed 15-year-old star before being reported to the police by the boy’s parents.
Court documents revealed that Brian was originally charged with 11 counts, including lewd act upon a child, sodomy of a person under 16, attempted sodomy of a person under 16, sexual penetration by a foreign object, four counts of oral copulation of a person under 16, oral copulation by anesthesia or controlled substance, sending harmful matter, and using a minor for sex acts, Buzzfeed reported.
Two decades later, Drake Bell, who is best known for starring in Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show, broke his silence for the upcoming docuseries, coming forward and claiming that he was the child actor who was involved in the case.
While Quiet on Set will not premiere until this weekend, Variety detailed parts of Drake’s interview for the series, where the now 37-year-old actor clarified that he had met Brian at the beginning of Season 2 of The Amanda Show when he was 14 years old, and Brian was 40.
You can watch the disturbing clip below:
As per Variety, Drake said that he would often spend the night at Brian’s house, but “everything changed with Brian one morning.”
The actor alleged: “I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep.
“I woke up to him, I opened my eyes, I woke up, and he was sexually assaulting me.
“I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react, and I [had] no idea how to get out of this situation.
“He figured out how to convince my mom and everyone around to, anytime I would have an audition or anytime I needed to work on dialogue or anything, I somehow ended up back at Brian’s house, and it just got worse and worse and worse and worse.”
He continued: “The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal.
“I don’t know how to elaborate on that on camera, really… Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault, and then I’ll answer your question.
“I don’t know how else to put it.”
According to the Los Angeles Times, the upcoming series will spotlight prolific TV creator Dan Schneider and, as those who previously worked for him allege, his abuse of power; the multiple convicted pedophiles who worked on his hit Nickelodeon shows; and more about what happened behind the scenes through interviews with former child actors, parents, and crew members.
The resurfaced footage sparked outrage online
