Quiet on Set viewers demand James Marsden response after Episode 5

Daisy Phillipson
Photo of James Marsden and letter of support for Brian Peck, as shown in Quiet on Set

Quiet on Set Episode 5 arrived on the weekend, sparking renewed calls on actor James Marsden to respond after he supported Brian Peck. 

The first half of Investigation Discovery’s docuseries on Dan Schneider’s Nickelodeon empire saw Drake Bell exposing the abuse he suffered as a teenager at the hands of Peck, who was his dialogue coach at the time. 

Despite the 2004 charges against Peck, which led to a 16 month prison term, numerous actors and industry figures wrote letters of support for the sex offender. As is revealed in Quiet on Set, one of those who vouched for Peck was Marsden. 

An excerpt from the X-Men star’s letter reads: “I assure you, what Brian has been through in the last year is the suffering of 100 men.” 

Marsden faced an angry backlash after the documentary premiered, and a similar situation is unfolding following the release of Episode 5 on Sunday night (April 7), with viewers demanding him to respond. 

Taking to the comments section of his latest Instagram post, which was shared on March 12, one wrote, “Own up to the letter you wrote. Take responsibility for your own actions and say sorry to Drake.”

“It’s been three weeks and you still haven’t said anything? Not a good look, dude,” said another following the fifth chapter, while a third added, “You disappointed all your fans (now ex fans).”

A fourth comment wrote: “I used to love you, but your silence is speaking volumes and naturally makes people wonder or infer some more involvement from your behalf if you can’t speak out and say you made a mistake and apologize to Drake.”

The backlash arrives after Bell revealed in Quiet on Set Episode 5 that not one person who wrote a letter of support for Peck has reached out to him since the first half of the docuseries aired. 

“Nobody’s reached out to me,” he says, to which host Soledad O’Brien asks, “No one at all?” Bell replies, “Personally? No, not one person who’s written one of those letters has reached out to me.”

However, it appears this has since changed, as the Drake & Josh star took to X last Friday to share that Boy Meets World star Rider Strong has made amends. “I just had the most amazing conversation with @RiderStrong we are all healing together. I have nothing but love and forgiveness for him,” he wrote

Quiet on Set Episodes 1-5 are streaming on Max now. You can read one thing missing from the docuseries here. And for more true crime, check out all the documentaries hitting streaming this month.

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About The Author

Daisy is a Senior TV and Movies Writer at Dexerto. She's a lover of all things macabre, whether that be horror, crime, psychological thrillers or all of the above. After graduating with a Masters in Magazine Journalism, she's gone on to write for Digital Spy, LADbible and Little White Lies. You can contact her on daisy.phillipson@dexerto.com