Drake Bell Admits He Struggles To Pay His Lease After ‘Drake & Josh’

Former baby star Drake Bell is pulling again the curtain on the downsides of Hollywood.

Throughout his look on a July episode of “The Unplanned Podcast,” the “Drake & Josh” alum revealed that regardless of his present’s enduring recognition, he noticed little or no of its income—and nonetheless would not.

Drake Bell took it even additional, slamming the executives at Nickelodeon for profiting off his onerous work whereas he struggles to pay for requirements, together with his lease.

Earlier than his hit present “Drake & Josh,” Bell appeared on the favored Nickelodeon sequence “The Amanda Present,” which famously starred Amanda Bynes.

In response to him, nonetheless, his years with the community weren’t almost as profitable as followers may assume.

“That’s the notion of the world, it’s all the time been this manner,” Bell mentioned. “It is like, you realize, ‘Oh, you made a Folgers Espresso industrial. You need to reside in a mansion in Hollywood. Like, I noticed you on TV. You are wealthy.’”

Bell went on to say that the notion many have of kid stars is “removed from the case.” He added, “And particularly, which is the bummer for many of us on Nickelodeon, we do not get residuals for our reveals.”

For context, residuals are further funds made to creatives within the leisure trade at any time when a TV present is reused—comparable to in reruns or on streaming platforms—past its preliminary broadcast.

In contrast to another performers from widespread tv reveals of the previous, Bell and his co-stars do not obtain residuals each time their present is aired or streamed.

Bell defined that he needed “Drake & Josh” to enter syndication, which is the method of promoting broadcasting rights of a program to a number of tv stations, permitting them to air the present on their channels, no matter whether or not they’re affiliated with the unique community.

“You wanna get to 100 episodes so that you could get to syndication, and then you definitely wanna get into syndication as a result of then you definitely get your residual cash, that is the place you make your cash,” he mentioned earlier than highlighting the stark distinction between his contract and people of different TV stars.

“For instance, the ‘Buddies’ solid on the peak was making 1,000,000 {dollars} an episode,” he defined. “You make 13 episodes that yr, you make $13,000,000. You make 20 episodes that yr, you make $20,000,000, proper?”

“However proper now, every solid member of ‘Buddies’ simply in syndication alone is making over $20,000,000 a yr, and so they’re not filming a present each week. They don’t seem to be going to work, however they’re enjoying their present and so they’re utilizing their likeness and so they’re doing all this, so that they receives a commission for it. And so they’re making over $20,000,000 in a yr simply because different networks are shopping for the rights for syndication,” he said.

Because the dialog continued, Bell blasted “loads of evil, corrupt individuals” within the trade, including, “There is no different reply.”

And to make issues worse, Bell shared that he sees episodes of “Drake & Josh” airing on tv and streaming on Netflix, but he receives no compensation from the reruns.

“There are three channels doing ‘Drake & Josh’ marathons,” he continued. “Netflix simply purchased it, it is high 10 on Netflix, and I gotta determine learn how to pay my lease this month.”

“And a few fats cat with a cigar is simply sitting up on the high of Viacom simply [laughing]. What do you name it? It is identical to getting excessive on baby labor,” Bell added.

That wasn’t all Bell needed to say about his unlucky contract with Nickelodeon, although. He additionally slammed the community for seemingly “throw[ing] us to the wolves.”

“We’re placing in all of this work. This company is making billions with a ‘B’ off of us, and we’re being compensated for the week of labor, cool, however that is it. And without end, in perpetuity, it actually says within the contract, throughout universes and galaxies and planets,” he mentioned, earlier than making a last, startling level.

“If Elon [Musk] will get us to Mars and so they present ‘Drake & Josh,’ it is not possible for me to receives a commission for it.”

Regardless of the irritating actuality of his scenario, the actor can take solace in the truth that “Drake & Josh” stays a beloved basic.

Throughout a earlier dialog with The Blast, Bell admitted he cannot go “wherever on the planet with out somebody stopping and saying, ‘I like your present,'” including, “And it is wild.”