Drake Bell Slams Nickelodeon's 'Evil' System That Leaves Him Struggling to 'Pay My Rent This Month'

Former child star Drake Bell is pulling back the curtain on the downsides of Hollywood.

During his appearance on a July episode of "The Unplanned Podcast," the "Drake & Josh" alum revealed that despite his show's enduring popularity, he saw very little of its profits—and still doesn't.

Drake Bell took it even further, slamming the executives at Nickelodeon for profiting off his hard work while he struggles to pay for necessities, including his rent.

Before his hit show "Drake & Josh," Bell appeared on the popular Nickelodeon series "The Amanda Show," which famously starred Amanda Bynes.

According to him, however, his years with the network weren't nearly as lucrative as fans might assume.

“That’s the perception of the world, it’s always been this way,” Bell said. “It's like, you know, ‘Oh, you made a Folgers Coffee commercial. You must live in a mansion in Hollywood. Like, I saw you on TV. You're rich.’"

Bell went on to say that the perception many have of child stars is "far from the case." He added, “And especially, which is the bummer for most of us on Nickelodeon, we don't get residuals for our shows.”

For context, residuals are additional payments made to creatives in the entertainment industry whenever a TV show is reused—such as in reruns or on streaming platforms—beyond its initial broadcast.

Unlike some other performers from popular television shows of the past, Bell and his co-stars don't receive residuals every time their show is aired or streamed.

Bell explained that he wanted "Drake & Josh" to enter syndication, which is the process of selling broadcasting rights of a program to multiple television stations, allowing them to air the show on their channels, regardless of whether they are affiliated with the original network.

“You wanna get to 100 episodes so that you can get to syndication, and then you wanna get into syndication because then you get your residual money, that's where you make your money," he said before highlighting the stark contrast between his contract and those of other TV stars.

“For example, the 'Friends' cast at the peak was making a million dollars an episode,” he explained. “You make 13 episodes that year, you make $13,000,000. You make 20 episodes that year, you make $20,000,000, right?"

"But right now, each cast member of 'Friends' just in syndication alone is making over $20,000,000 a year, and they're not filming a show every week. They're not going to work, but they're playing their show and they're using their likeness and they're doing all this, so they get paid for it. And they're making over $20,000,000 in a year just because other networks are buying the rights for syndication," he stated.

As the conversation continued, Bell blasted "a lot of evil, corrupt people" in the industry, adding, "There's no other answer."

And to make matters worse, Bell shared that he sees episodes of "Drake & Josh" airing on television and streaming on Netflix, yet he receives no compensation from the reruns.

“There are three channels doing 'Drake & Josh' marathons,” he continued. “Netflix just bought it, it's top 10 on Netflix, and I gotta figure out how to pay my rent this month."

“And some fat cat with a cigar is just sitting up at the top of Viacom just [laughing]. What do you call it? It's just like getting high on child labor,” Bell added.

That wasn't all Bell had to say about his unfortunate contract with Nickelodeon, though. He also slammed the network for seemingly "throw[ing] us to the wolves."

“We're putting in all of this work. This corporation is making billions with a 'B' off of us, and we're being compensated for the week of work, cool, but that's it. And forever, in perpetuity, it literally says in the contract, across universes and galaxies and planets," he said, before making a final, startling point.

“If Elon [Musk] gets us to Mars and they show 'Drake & Josh,' it's impossible for me to get paid for it.”

Despite the frustrating reality of his situation, the actor can take solace in the fact that "Drake & Josh" remains a beloved classic.

During a previous conversation with The Blast, Bell admitted he can't go "anywhere in the world without someone stopping and saying, 'I love your show,'" adding, "And it's wild."