What is Drake Bell’s net worth? Fortune explored as 'Drake & Josh' star says Nickelodeon never paid the network’s actors any residuals

Drake Bell is getting candid about not getting "a dime" in financial residuals from the Nickelodeon sitcom Drake & Josh.

Bell, who previously alleged that he was abused during his time on set, recently sat down for an appearance on The Unplanned Podcast, where he spoke on behalf of himself and his co-star, Josh Peck.

"That’s the perception of the world — it’s always been this way: It’s like, you know, ‘Oh, you made a Folgers Coffee commercial. You must live in a mansion in Hollywood. I saw you on TV, you’re rich,'" Bell said, adding: "That's far from the case. And especially — which is the bummer for most of us on Nickelodeon — we don't get residuals for our shows."

Fans have since begun wondering about the actor and comedian's net worth, which, according to Celebrity Net Worth, is $300 thousand. Per the outlet, back in February 2014, he had filed for bankruptcy, citing thousands in debt and a dwindling monthly income.

Drake Bell echoes Josh Peck's claims that they didn't get financial residuals from Nickelodeon: Read more

On the podcast, Drake Bell also claimed that, unlike other networks, Nickelodeon gave its stars a one-time payout. Matt Howard, the host, then asked Bell if this move was just the network taking advantage of the fact that Drake and Josh were younger in age. Bell snorted,

"Keep going! Keep trying to figure it out."

He alleged,

"It's a lot of evil, corrupt people...that is the answer. There's no other answer. Do everything that they do to us mentally and emotionally, and then throw us to the wolves. And we're like, 'Okay, cool. I got rent this month.'"

Drake Bell revealed that earning residuals is what allows TV stars to “make the majority of their money," and that the goal is to make 100 episodes, so that it became "syndication-friendly" and kept the financial residual paychecks coming in.

“Each cast member of Friends, just in syndication alone, is making over $20 million a year,” he claimed.

He also claimed that the Drake & Josh guest stars got residuals, but not its main stars:

“[There are] people who said two lines on one episode [who] still get checks in the mail,” he said. “Josh and I? Not a dime.”

He then voiced his frustration with the Nickelodeon show's continued success years after it ended in 2007:

“There are three channels doing Drake & Josh marathons. 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 [the former Nickelodeon parent now part of Paramount Global] just going, ‘Isn’t it great?’ … It’s just like getting high on child labor.”

Drake Bell is one of several stars, writers, and crew members who have levied allegations of abuse and fostering a toxic workplace environment at Dan Schneider, per FBC News.

Notably, Drake Bell's co-star and step-brother on the show, Josh (played by Josh Peck), also echoed the claims that they didn't receive financial residuals back in April 2022 in his memoir, Happy People Are Annoying.

In it, he claimed that over the four seasons of the show, he made $15,000 per episode, which comes up to $900,000 in total for the entire show. However, as reported by Lad Bible, after he paid off his agent and managers' fees, he was left with $450,000.

"Spread that over five years, which is how long it took us to shoot all 60 episodes, and it breaks down to a little less than $100,000 (£76,516) a year," he wrote in the book.

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