[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Well this is f**king disturbing as can be…
We’ve been covering the sad story of Investigation Discovery‘s new four-part docuseries Quiet On Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV for a few weeks now. Most notably, of course, was the revelation that Drake Bell was the 15-year-old previously-unnamed child star who was abused by acting-slash-dialogue coach Brian Peck nearly two decades ago. The fallout from that reveal and the docuseries’ coverage has been all over the headlines for a while. But this one tidbit got left out of much of the coverage thus far — and honestly, it is one of the most disturbing parts of the whole thing!!
Related: Drake Bell Defends Josh Peck Against Online Hate For Not Speaking Out After SA Reveal
During episode two, which aired back on Monday night, former All That cast member Kyle Sullivan recalled working with Peck way back when. Sullivan was just 14 at the time. He remembered how everybody around the set and all the kids’ parents were totally cool with Brian:
“Everybody loved Brian. He was charming, he was clever, and he was around all the time. All the parents loved him too. Everybody trusted Brian.”
Sadly, that’s how these things so often go — a person in a position of trust taking advantage of that trust in the worst way. But that wasn’t Sullivan’s only revelation during the docuseries. In fact, what he said next was WAY more disturbing. The ex-child star remembered going to a barbecue at Peck’s house one day. There, when he walked into one room of the disgraced dialogue coach’s crib, he saw something unsettling:
“His house was a little off. He had a room that was just dedicated to vintage toys and comic books. And he converted his garage into a Planet of the Apes shrine. I noticed a painting in the room that stuck out to me because it had nothing to do with Planet of the Apes. It was of a birthday clown holding balloons.”
Huh… that is a little weird. The identity of the clown is what made it really, really scary, though. Sullivan explained:
“Brian got very excited when I asked him about it. He flipped the thing around and on the back, it said, ‘To Brian, I hope you enjoy the painting. Best wishes, your friend, John Wayne Gacy.'”
***Record Scratch***
Um, WHAT?! John Wayne Gacy?? As in, the so-called “Killer Clown” John Wayne Gacy?! As in, the serial killer John Wayne Gacy?! As in, the guy who was convicted of raping and murdering nearly three dozen boys and young men around Chicago in the 1970s John Wayne Gacy?! Seriously??? What. The. F**K?!?!
Sullivan claimed Peck proudly showed Gacy’s painting to the other parents and children at his home, and apparently the man saw nothing wrong with having a serial killer’s artwork on hand. The former child actor explained the painting alone wasn’t the extent of Peck’s connection to Gacy, either:
“Brian actually developed a pen pal relationship with John. He kept this pile of letters and photos from John Wayne Gacy in his nightstand next to his bed. He pulls them out and starts showing them to me.”
Honestly, we are flabbergasted. There are no words. For Sullivan looking back on it now, he is equally flabbergasted. But he also admits that he and many others simply looked past the strange situation at the time:
“Your instinct is to give someone the benefit of the doubt if you’ve known them for that long, even in the face of this really bad sign. It was one of those classic failures of group psychology. This man who was trusted as basically a supervisor of kids is not safe.”
No kidding. Jeez. What do U make of this wild revelation, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF with your thoughts down in the comments (below)…
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via FayesVision/WENN/The Atlanta Constitution/Peacock/YouTube/YouTube]
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