The Unplanned Podcast with Matt & Abby - Abuse On Set, Drake & Josh, and Fatherhood w/ Drake Bell

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

Drake Bell joins Matt & Abby to reflect on his journey from childhood stardom to fatherhood. He shares why he doesn’t receive residuals from Drake & Josh, how he went bankrupt, and the reality of being a young actor in Hollywood. Drake also opens up about surviving abuse at 15, what people misunderstood about Quiet On Set, and why he chose to speak out publicly. This episode is sponsored by Nutrafol: Visit https://nutrafol.com and enter promo code UNPLANNEDPOD for $10 off any order and free shipping when you subscribe. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Rocketmoney.com slash unplanned. Quite on set came out, everyone goes after this big bad man. When during all of that, the president of the network that had to sign off on every single script, every single joke was a woman. Because it's Nickelodeon, we get nothing for it. There's three channels doing Drake and Josh marathons.

Netflix just bought it, it's top 10 on Netflix, and I gotta figure out how to pay my rent this month. This documentary was the first time really anybody knew what happened to you. Everyone knew what happened in the industry, and everyone loved him. He had these 41 letters of support. I would work with this person tomorrow.

These letters are fucked up. You reference you and your dad having some sort of falling out. What do you think you will do to avoid some sort of situation like that with yourself? I don't know. Today on Unplanned, we sat down with none other than Drake Bell.

Now, if you're like me, I hadn't really seen Drake since the Drake and Josh days, but I had absolutely no idea until the documentary Qui On Set came out that he was abused as a minor. The abuse happened in the early 2000s before Drake and Josh began filming. In this interview, Drake shares the lifelong impact

the abuse has had on his career, why he doesn't receive residuals from Drake and Josh, and so much more. You're a really big part of our generation's childhood. How does that feel whenever you go out and like go to the grocery store? Growing up, I've had encounters and interactions where I see people who I've like grew up on or

they like shaped my childhood and I get to meet them and sometimes they're cool and sometimes they're not cool and when they're cool it's like oh my god that was the coolest experience I'm gonna keep that forever and then when they're not cool you're like oh man what a bummer because they kind of like ruined it for you and yeah like there was one time I met Ray Charles I was at an audition I see Ray Charles around the corner I'm like dad dad dad dad. I just saw Ray Charles. I just saw Ray Charles He just Ray Charles just went around the corner and my dad's like you did not just see Ray Charles I'm like, I think I did so I get up and leave my dad and I run around the corner and I get and he's standing

They're waiting for the elevator and it's him and this other guy is kind of holding his arm, right? And I'm so excited stupid me, I like forget he was blind. I like run up and I just put my hand out to like shake his hand. And he's just kind of standing there, you know, like waiting for the elevator. And the guy with him goes, hey Ray, you want to shake this young man's hand here?

And Ray, he goes, oh yeah, hey, put something in the pocket there, son. And I shake his hand and he shakes my hand like real good, you know, and then he takes it and he puts his hand in his pocket and then takes his hand out and pats his pocket. Like he put my handshake in his pocket. That's cool. And I was like, that was the coolest handshake I've ever

seen from the, the who's just oozing cool like his shirt was like straight out of the 70s. Like he was just oozing cool. He looked like a rock star, you know? And then I recognize the guy he's with and I go, and you, you, you're, you're, you're, you're, you're, and he's got a hat on, like a brim hat, you know? And a suit and he's so cool, and he just goes, the name's Quincy, and taps his hat to me and the doors close, and it was Ray Charles and Quincy Jones.

Wow. And it was like, I mean, just royalty. So I take away moments like that where I've gotten to meet people who I've really loved, and what'd that take for Ray? He was waiting for the elevator anyway. I have to ask, did your dad believe you when you went back? I'm trying to think back if my dad believed me because I wasn't able to get a photo or anything.

Yeah. I don't know, he probably thought I was making it up. It's cool talking about how you and your dad were together, you know, at the beginning, even like towards the beginning of your career, you seem to have a really close relationship with your dad. Yeah, I mean, I mean, it's interesting because we definitely had a time in our relationship

where I'm sure a lot of fathers and sons really hope it doesn't happen with my son. Where we're at odds and we don't speak and we're this. And then I was also bamboozled a lot by the people that were around me, that he was taking my money and doing this and all to get me away from him and to get me into their clutches and things like that.

Is that a common thing that people will talk to child stars and try to get between them and their parents? 100%, 100%. And unfortunately, sometimes it's good advice and sometimes it's terrible advice. And coming from a place of like, I wanna take advantage of this person and this person's in the way of that,

so let's drive a wedge and get that person out of the way. But then there's also times where the parents are actually being abusive to the kids, whether it's physically or emotionally or mentally or monetarily. Yeah, I mean, I think the first time we really learned about that going on, I think I'd heard about Coogan, who was an actor and then they had a Kugin accounts because of what happened to

This kid Kugin when he was growing up back in the day. So Jackie Kugin was an actor back in the day I don't know if you know Charlie Chaplin the kid That's Jackie Kugin and His parents pilfered a bunch of his money a ton of his money when he was a kid And so they created the Coogan account, which takes 30% of all of the money that you make when you're under 18 and puts it and sets it aside. Unfortunately, there's a lot of loopholes

that parents can figure out how to get through that. It's still a flawed system. Did you ever see the Adams family, the original Adams family TV show, the black and white original Adams family TV show? No, no. Anyway, Uncle Fester is Jackie Coogan, but he's an adult. That was a...

No way. Yeah. So he played Uncle Fester in the Adam's Family TV show. But anyway, he was basically the catalyst for the Coogan account because of what had happened to him. I mean, he was making movies and like he was in the kid, you know, he's making movies before sound. So he was one of the early child actors. Yeah I think at least for me I read Jeanette McCurdy's book and that really opened up my mind to everything that there is out there I mean I just had never thought. And how that's still happening like recently. Yeah I just thought that every kid you see on TV their life was

perfect. Yeah of course of course. You just idolized them you wanted to be I mean I wanted to be a Disney Channel kid when I was a child. Are you kidding me? And the perception of the world too, and not just so much with like Nickelodeon kids, but it's the perception of the world has always been this way is like, you know, oh you made a Folgers coffee commercial. You must live in a mansion in Hollywood. Like I saw you on TV. Like you're rich. That's far from the case. You know, and especially which is the bummer for most of us on Nickelodeon, Like I saw you on TV, like you're rich. That's far from the case, you know? And especially which is the bummer for most of us on Nickelodeon, we don't get residuals for our shows.

So we got paid, you know, it's interesting. Like, okay, so in film and television, like in music, like in anything, when you create a product and then somebody buys that product or sees that product over and over, then you get paid each time that product's used or anytime that that music's played or, okay, I want to use your song in a movie. Well, you have to pay for that. Oh, I want to use your song in this commercial. You have to pay for that. Or, you know, I'm

Jerry Seinfeld. Okay, well, I'm Channel 5. I want to buy the rights to show Seinfeld on my network. I want to pick up, okay, Netflix just bought Seinfeld and now it's playing Seinfeld Well, you have to pay the cast and you have to pay the people For oh, so they get paid residuals. Everyone gets paid residuals just not Nickelodeon Everyone in television gets paid residuals everyone It's the that's how you make the majority of your money. You want to get into syndication. You want to get to 100 episodes so that you can get to syndication. And then you want to get into syndication because then you get your residual money.

That's where you make your money. You make your... Like, for example, the Friends cast at the peak was making a million dollars an episode. That's crazy. So if you make 13 episodes that year, you make 13 million dollars. You make 20 episodes that year, you make 20 million dollars, right? but right now

Each cast member of friends just in syndication alone is making over 20 million dollars a year and they're not filming a show every week They're not going to work They're not 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 20ess and they're doing all this. So they get paid for it. And they're making over $20 million a year just because other networks are buying the rights for syndication. Is the reason you guys didn't get residuals, was that because you were kids

and the people around you thought, oh, this is a great opportunity. I guess there's no residuals negotiated into this contract, but they're kids and this will probably help their career. So they just didn't think to fight for that. Oh, keep going. Is that why? Keep going.

Was it? Keep trying to figure it out. He doesn't have it. Oh yeah. Yeah, that's what I'm guessing. Right? It's a lot of evil, corrupt people. That's the only thing that is the answer.

There's no other answer. There's no other answer. No other answer. So no one on the show gets residuals? Nobody. Well, the guest stars. Really? Oh yeah. There's people who said two lines on one episode that still get checks in the mail.

That is pretty crazy that corporations are making bag off of your show. They just sold it to Netflix. It was top ten on Netflix. Listen, I'm like, look, I was in New Jersey recently and they had three channels, three channels, Nick channels, and they were all three marathons of Drake and Josh and they had different episodes playing on each channel. It was three different channels and each was a marathon of Drake and Josh. Well, what was coming on in between those cereal commercials and this commercial? I'm like, I'm just looking at this going, that is so much money going to this

corporation and they're just making it up all of this. You should email Netflix and be like, all of these. And say what? And say, hey, I know you legally don't have to give me anything, but could you just throw me a bone over here? Yeah. And then, my name is literally the name of the show that you just bought rights to. Yeah. You would think. Throw me a bone, please. You would think, right? You would think. Yeah.

Just, I don't know. That's crazy though. That's wild. And then they 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. There's three channels doing Drake and Josh marathons Netflix just bought it it's top ten on Netflix and I got to figure out how to pay my rent this month and

some fat cat with a cigar is just sitting up in a At the top of Iacom just going hey Isn't it great getting around? I mean, you know, what do you call it? He's just like Getting high on child labor great getting around. I mean, you know, what do you call it? It's just like getting high on child labor. So I take it you don't have a great relationship. If we were making shoes, somebody probably would have come in and saved us. But we weren't, we were entertaining you. That's heavy. I mean, that's definitely true. And a lot of

that probably has to do with like with the perceived glitz and glamour of Hollywood too. It's like, oh, well they're living better than all of us. And the other thing comes is like, oh, we don't get residuals. Well, I don't get residuals at my job. Stop whining. You got to live a great, fantastic, rich life. And it's like, no, you don't.

People don't understand how the business works, the business side of this. They just see what the perception is on Instagram and social media and all of the glitz and the glamour of Hollywood. But it's like, for example, if you get a guest spot on a television show, you're gonna get paid maybe $1,000. You're probably gonna be a resident of California

because if you're an actor, you're gonna be probably residing in California. You're gonna get taxed. So you're gonna get your 30% tax on California. You're going to get taxed. So you're going to get your 30% tax on California. You're going to get your 50% tax from the federal government. Then you're going to have to pay 10% to your agent. Then you're going to have to pay 15% to your manager. Then you're going to have to pay 5% to your business manager. Then you're going to have to pay your publicist. And then you're negative. You're in the red. Like you're not making all of this crazy money. It's all gone. And then you're

not even accounting for the parking tickets that you had to pay for when you got to that audition because you didn't know that you were going to be in the audition room for an hour instead of 30 minutes. But you couldn't leave. You can't go out and pay your parking because they're going to call you in or you're actually in the audition room and you're getting the $75 parking ticket and you have another audition that you have to go to and pay a $30 parking for that place and then you've got your car you live in LA so you have to have a car so you have to have your car insurance you have to have your car payment you have to have you have to pay for gas you have to be so all where is all of this money yeah and then they set us up we're kids we're working on some kids this show we're adolescent we don't

know what's going on and we're like okay cool like this is going to set us up like we're kids, we're working on some kids, this show, we're adolescent, we don't know what's going on and we're like, okay, cool. Like this is going to set us up. Like we, you know, we're putting in all of this work, this company, this corporation is making billions with a B off of us and, you know, yeah, 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, like, I don't know these. Actually? Literally. If we, if, if, if Elon gets us to Mars and they show Drake and Josh, I will, it's impossible for me to get paid for it.

Do you think it's... They were really thinking there. Yeah, wow. I never, I never even knew that was a thing. Do you think it's... They were really thinking there. Yeah. Wow. I never even knew that was a thing. Do you think it was situations like that that led to bankruptcy? Absolutely. Absolutely. Because you're also living in a situation where you're like, okay, I'm getting a good...

Obviously we're not working 52 weeks a year. We're not working like a normal job. So we do have to say, okay, we're only doing six episodes. We're only doing 13 episodes and we have weird seasons. Oh, we're doing 22 episodes. So it's like, that's only 22 weeks of work. You gotta make that last throughout the entire year. And like I said, with all of the expenses

and all of the things, especially when you're actively working on a show, then you actively have publicity that you're paying for. Sometimes you can put your publicity on hold. Oh, I've got a project coming out in three months. I'll put publicity on in a month. Oh, I got a project coming out at the end of the year. In six months, I'll put my publicity on.

But when you're actively on a show, and so if you've got stuff going, you're going to Red Carb, you're trying to build your brand. And so the expenses are like out of control. And so that money that you're making really goes into like, it's really just reinvesting into, we like, for example, my, like, okay, got the Amanda show, okay, cool.

What's next step? Okay, cool, got Drake and Josh, okay, cool. Oh, now we went and started super good thing. And it's like, okay, what's the next thing? But all of those things require funding in like building your brand. And so that comes from the money that you're making in your job.

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Luckily for us, it was our real names, you know. I mean, you could take the cast of Zoey 101 and just put them all, I mean, I had friends who went into Target and didn't even know that their faces were on t-shirts. Oh, no way. Yeah. And literally we're like, that's my face on all of these toys and shirts and everything. But because it's Nickelodeon and the way that they structure their deals, we get nothing for it.

Nothing. Do you have any good relationships with people at Nickelodeon now? Not at Nickelodeon. Not Nickelodeon? No. I mean, there's people that I worked with that... So here's the other, this is the other misconception when you don't work in the industry and you don't, so you gotta understand the difference between the production company

and the network, right? So the production company like Schneider's Bakery or Tolan Robbins or whoever, that's like the company that's making the show. Yeah. But the company that owns the show and is putting it on TV and doing all that is Nickelodeon. And then the company that owns Nickelodeon is Viacom. When we complain about Nickelodeon and they didn't pay us, they don't give us residuals, there were things that were allowed to be on our shows that probably pushed the envelope,

we shouldn't have happened, things like that. That's not coming from our production company, like our family over here making the show. There's a conglomerate that's making those decisions. So a lot of times, like I've seen a lot of people who have worked on my show be demonized, like they don't, like Drake and Josh, what do you mean they don't get residuals?

Like how could that person or that person or that person? I'm like, no, no, no, they don't control our pay and everything. Just because they're an executive producer or they're a head writer or they're the boss of the show, like they don't control like what we get paid or what our residuals are going to be or what our deals are. Like they have nothing to do with that.

That's Nickelodeon and Viacom. Gotcha. Gotcha. So, which is interesting because when Quiet On Set came out, you know, they were demonizing it so heavily that there was like, oh, look at how they're sexualizing these young girls and putting them, it's this big bad man that's doing it. And it's these men that are putting these women. When the president of Nickelodeon during all of that was a woman and no one I've not seen in one documentary I have not

seen in one YouTube video everyone goes after one person okay the president of the network was a woman that had to sign off on every single script had to sign off on every single edit of every single episode show had to sign off on every single joke the president was SEMA and you had Paula Kaplan at her who was second-in-command so you didn't think that they did? Two women, they're watching every, so all of these things they're clipping together that are saying, oh, they're putting these girls

in these situations, this and this and this and this. There were, that's, people are like forgetting that there's, they're like, our bosses had bosses and those two bosses were women that were like everything that everyone's mad about go say those two names because those are the two that's who signed off on every single you couldn't get you couldn't put a joke in an episode without them saying it's okay you couldn't put it you couldn't put an outfit on you couldn't dress me in blue jeans if they said they wanted black jeans. Yeah.

Like these are the, this is the boss, head boss. Why do you think the documentaries singled out certain people and then left out those names? Well, we're getting deep here. Let's get on. Cause there's a cabal. It's, that's why. Cause there's a whole, it's the whole thing.

There's just a lot of a lot of money like I guess people that have money have power and they can probably pull some strings. People. And it's not even people with money necessarily to its connection. In this town it's connections to you know it's like you don't necessarily have to be super rich but you know the right people connected. You necessarily have to be super rich, but you can be connected. I mean, that's what happened with my situation, and I think that that's why Brian was able to do all of the things that he did, because he was just such a connector.

He was the Forrest Gump of Hollywood. Like, if, you know, Brian knew everyone, and everyone loved him, and so he was able to get people, you know, able to make you feel like, oh, hey, if you come into my circle, you know, I could, you know, things could happen and you could meet people that you could further your career and this and that and you know, and this is a town that that is a normal thing and it's not always a predatory thing. It's like this is a

town of being social and meeting people, Oh, this guy knows that guy. And oh, how'd you meet that director? Oh dude, my friend invited me to this thing and my other friend was there and he was a friend of this guy and I got to meet him and we did this thing. And so that's like a normal thing about this town. And so when somebody has the opportunity to like use that as, to weaponize that basically.

So it doesn't always have to be like some, you know, rich, famous person, you know. What were your initial thoughts of the documentary? I mean, my initial thoughts were, I got to tell my story and I was terrified that I had actually said all of this and told people what happened to me and that everyone knows. But when I finally sat down and got to watch my part of it, there was kind of like a breath of fresh air of like, okay, if I was ever going to tell my story, that was a pretty

impactful and well done way to do it. Because I always thought about it. And that's one of the cool things about, I guess one of the nice things about my story being out is, I used to all the time just, am I ever gonna tell my story? What if this ever comes out? What's the reaction gonna be?

What are people gonna think? It's just constant. Now I don't have that anymore, I know. You know? I always think, like, what am I gonna say it on a podcast? Or in an interview, some people, like, if I'm gonna tell my story, like, it should be, like, in a, you know,

am I gonna write a book? Like, that's gonna take, you know, how do I do it? And so I got that opportunity, which I had said no to a hundred times, and then finally, come around and say, know I had gone to rehab I'd done a bunch of like group therapy and hearing people share their stories and I was kind of like oh okay I'm not alone in this and other people have trauma too and okay these people

are here because of you know substance abuse or whatever they're here for rehab, but when we're in our group sessions none of them is talking about oh I Drink because and I struggle with this drug or that drug they're all talking about like the trauma in their past and all about their things that have happened to them in their lives and and You're like, oh like that's helping me kind of feel like I can talk and not be judged. And these people just wanna see me get better.

They're not judging my past or my choices or my anything. They just wanna see me come out the other side because they know that the other side is gonna make all the stuff that's behind you like dust in the wind. So just get to the other side. Let's just, you know, and it's never been in an environment where people are, no judgment, no, you know,

I'm not reading the internet all day and I'm making friends and these other people are hurting too and they're sharing their stories and then these other hurt people are coming to me and help and like supporting me. And like, I'm like, dude, how are you giving me like support right now with the story that I just heard you tell in group like how do you even have it in you to come and pat me on the back and say it's gonna be okay.

You know and so that sort of like started bringing me out of my shell you know and so when I got out and they approached me again and you know know, I was like, let's go talk. Let's go sit down and let me talk to you. See how, I'm gonna feel you guys out. And I eventually just kind of got to the point where I was like, maybe this is a good way to finally do this. The documentary was the first time

that really anybody knew about what happened to you. But I guess somebody must have known something to I guess approach you about the documentary, right? So like who knew about what happened? Had you just like shared it with some close friends and family or was there somebody at? So people knew. People didn't?

Because there was a big case and there was people were at the courtroom. I mean, it was a Hollywood, everyone in Hollywood knew. Okay. Did they know it was you specifically or did they just think it was some, the majority of people knew. I mean, I'm a lot of the younger actors on Nickelodeon, a lot of the younger people,

of course didn't, but any adult and any person, I mean, they, everyone knew what happened in the industry. How did that make you feel? It was horrible. It was horrible because every audition room you walk into everything and then you know He had these 41 letters of support that were written by you know, Alan Thicke TV's favorite dad, you know, it's like America's favorite dad like I would work with this person tomorrow You see what he admitted to and you're just like he's a great guy

like amazing and you have all of these producers and directors and I mean, people who literally like direct every kids show that we grew up on, writing letters of support for this person after what he'd done to me. So you start to think, that many people went out on a limb and put their name to paper. I mean, these are people who, I mean you would

think that once the letters came out their careers would be over but they're not. They're all working and they're all having a fantastic time. I mean James Marsden can't stop working. I don't understand it. I mean you read these letters and they're unbelievable. Blaming me, it's my fault, I pursued this person and I broke were they I broke them down and they were what was the one yesterday? I read it was a pressure beyond belief. I'm like I was 14. I just got my first girlfriend like I trust me I wasn't trying to like go after the 40 year old fat gross troll man on my set Okay, like trust me, but The crazy thing is is you read these letters and even if I was

I'm like trying to read these letters and I'm like putting the logic in my brain I'm like and I was I was reading them with a friend of mine and I looked up and I was like Dude, let's do a hypothetical right now Let's say I was just in love with this person. I just could I was enamored. I wanted nothing more than to have that person. These letters are still letters are still it's like, there's no logical thinking human that could ever make this scenario okay. And every single letter is just, it's my fault and I pressured him and it's not his fault

and what happened was because of me. And these letters are considered like proof of character letters or something like that? Yeah, it's basically like what Ashton wrote for Danny. What other crimes are you allowed to present a judge with? Every crime. Really? Yeah. I mean, for me that just seems...

So basically what it is, is when you commit a crime, then you're gonna be sentenced. So now you have the ability to have your community come out and say, hey, look, I know that the maximum sentence for your crime is two years, okay? You stole something, two years. But listen, she's a great mother, she's an upstanding citizen, she works at my, I'm her employer

and she's never shown up late, she's always been a great blah blah blah. Next person comes up, she's in da da da da da da da da. Well now the judge can go, you know what, how about 50 hours of community service and you have a nice day? Or they can go, hey, which in my case my case the judge said because I had him on tape like admitting every single thing that he did like graphically admitting

everything he did and without that there wouldn't have been the conviction right like there would have been the conviction because there was other evidence there was but that it would have been much harder because that's what I'm thinking about like how do you even prove this stuff? Because. Oh, he just admitted it all. I mean, luckily in your case he did, but there's probably so many stories out there

where people have had F'd up things happen to them, and they don't have the phone call, they don't have any hard evidence, they were probably just scared and they didn't think to record a phone call. I mean, and for you it happened so many times, over and over and over. But think about all the situations too, where it happens once and they can't even,

there's no way to convict someone. Yeah. And so luckily we had the call and he, uh, the judge in my case, after getting all of the people speaking so glowingly about this person and all of the letters and all of this stuff, He was like, the judge was a badass. He goes, you seem to have a lot of friends and but I just want to let you know, then I'm paraphrasing, I don't know, this was 25, 30 years ago. Yeah. And so, wow, more than that. Drake and Josh was 20 years ago. And so he goes, you have a lot of friends and people showing up for you today, and they didn't hear the tape.

So the free Valera, that's one thing that they didn't hear. So that's one thing I can say, okay, maybe. But still, whatever, they're forgiven. So he goes, everyone who's shown up for you has zero impact on my decision today. Zero. And you're very lucky that your mom, I think he was like trying to really like dig at him, like, because he goes, you're really lucky that your mom could afford an expensive

attorney because what I'm going to hand down to you is not what I want to give you nor what you deserve because ladies and gentlemen of the court, I heard the tapes. I heard the tapes. I heard the tapes. And I was just like, whoa. And everyone in the courtroom was like, tapes, like what? And he's like, so congratulations basically on having a lot of friends, but they didn't help you. And you're really lucky that you have a mom that came to your side because you'd be going to jail for a long time. Wow. So did he get the maximum of what?

No, he got 16 months in jail, which he got let out early and then went to work at Disney Channel. How does he end up with 16 months after? Yeah, then he went and worked on family movies with kids and worked on Jack and the Beanstalk with Gilbert Godfrey and Chevy Chase and a bunch of movies with a bunch of kids.

Yeah. And went and worked on the Disney Channel as a registered sex offender. But that's dope. Welcome to Hollywood. Hey. I'm curious now, like we're parents now and like thinking about you as a child Like going into this from what I understand

This was something that you independently wanted was like the entertainment industry and something you sought out Your parents weren't a part of the industry at all Correct. So then do you think any part of it was like your parents like wanting to follow your dreams? but just not being equipped to handle like the caliber of I don't know I guess it's it's also hard because it's like obviously your parents It's not their fault anything that happened

But I wonder if there's a part of you that is feels some type of way about not feeling protected as a child going into the industry well, it's difficult because You know you want to go how could you how could the parents be put in, you know, let their kids be put in there? But it's different, it's hard because it's the same thing with like, you know, you look, you see the Olympics, right? What happened with the Olympics? And it's hard to blame the parents

because you have these Olympic coaches that are telling you, this is how you get the gold medal. Totally. Do you know how to get the gold medal? Do you know how to get the gold medal? Do you know how to get the gold medal? I know how to get the gold medal. Okay? By the way, today your daughter has a physical.

She needs to go into the physical. Okay. Like, right? So as a parent, you want to be like, okay, well, I'm going to go. Or, you know, you're not at the camp with her every day. Yeah. She's off working at camp. Okay, she's going to the physicals.

She's getting her things done. Like, you as a parent are going, these people bring home the gold for the United States of America. Yeah. Is there a safer place my daughter could be? And so for, I guess. And now you take it as the parents in the entertainment industry, they don't know how to make movies. They don't know where they're supposed to stand.

They don't know who they're allowed to talk to. They don't know what they're going to do that is going to bug the producer and get their child fired. They don't know, you know gonna do that is gonna bug the producer and get their child fired. They don't know, you know, oh, we go to the green room? Okay. Like, well, the kid has to go to set, you just don't know. So there's so many opportunities for, and I'm not saying that this is an evil industry, okay, because everybody has bad actors and everything has ability to be infiltrated. But you, because you do have people who see that and go, Hey, you're new.

This is how it's done. Like, Hey, you don't, Hey, when you're, when you're, when they tell you parents go in the green room and your kid goes to set, you don't have to go to the green room. Just don't be walking around and going up to your kid, going, hey, smile bigger and hey, look at, you know, just don't be that parent. Just go stand over there and watch your kid work. But be present and be there. That's gonna be fine.

They just put the parents over there because most parents are standing over there like they're at a beauty pageant going, yeah, and the director's going, he's in the middle of a take get this parent out of here yeah so that's what they're trying to get out of the totally you know what I mean is the parents that are like the director will say hey that was really great just like that give me one more and then the parent will run in and be like you didn't even cry.

There were no tears. You cried in the car, you did it right in the car. Put the tears, make them the tears, like show them the tears. And the director's like, I just had a great take, I was just gonna get another great take, and now this kid's all in his head

because this mom is now thinking she's a director of a movie. Like, I don't want the kid crying. I don't want the kid, like. So that's what, when they say, hey parents, go over there, is really what they're trying to get rid of. But then you have people who can weaponize that, infiltrate that, and go, hey, I know best, and I know how to get your kid to the next level,

and I know how to get, and oh, hey kid, your parents should not be your manager, because then it gives them the opportunity to get your kid to the next level and I know how to get, and oh hey kid, your parents should not be your manager because then it gives them the opportunity to steal your money and it gives them opportunity to do this and opportunity to do that. And then it starts going, oh, huh, what? Like your parents are more likely to steal your money than some business manager you've never met before.

That's a really good point. Yeah, just a lot. But it's 14 year old logic. I appreciate that nuance because I can see where a common criticism would be like, oh, the parents, but I feel like that is like misplaced. Earlier you referenced you and your dad having some sort of falling out at one point.

And it seems like I noticed on your Instagram, I was taking a look at your Instagram today and I saw you posted about your dad on Father's Day. And it seems like you guys have a really sweet relationship, but what do you think you will do to hopefully avoid some sort of situation like that with your son? I don't know. I mean I love my dad and my dad's amazing. And I love my, and my dad's amazing.

And I love my mom, and my mom's amazing. But that's not to say I think that, and you'll see this now that you're new parents, we love our parents, but my God, did they teach us how and what not to do as a parent. I hope that I'm able to recognize certain behaviors and certain things that, like for example, I'll just take one thing for example. I feel like my generation or my parents generation, divorce was rampant and the kids were used a lot in divorce.

It was, I'm at my dad's house, your mom is this, your mom is this, your mom is this, I'm at my mom's house, your dad is this, your dad is this, your dad is this. And then it's like, well, I'm half of him and I'm half of you. Yeah. So basically you guys are just telling me that I suck because if he's got no good qualities and you got no good qualities and you guys hate each other, then what do you dig me for? Like, I'm literally what you guys hate, you know? And that's being instilled in my brain and I'm like, you know,

and so that creates tension between, it's like, F you, that's my mom. Stop talking about my mom that way. F you, that's my mom. Stop talking about my mom that way. F you, that's my dad. Stop talking about my dad that way. Now I've got animosity toward that person. Now I get, and it creates this whole thing of, you know, maybe when I have my son, and now unfortunately, my wife and I are separated and she, you know,

we're co-parenting. Well, now I have the memory of me hearing things about my mom that I don't want to hear from my father. And things about my father I don't want to hear from my mother. You know, so I don't care if I'm angry at my ex-wife or at his mom, which is very rare, actually never, but or if we have a disagreement about something or if there's anything, all my son knows and hopefully that I mean that's what we strive for, all my son

knows is that me and his mom love each other, we're not together but we love each other and we respect each other and we love him unconditionally and whenever he's with me, his mama loves him, mama's amazing. When he's like, oh, I miss mama, I miss mama too. You know, mama, like, oh, I love mama, I love mama too. Like, it's all that I want him to hear, you know? And she's the same way. I'm like, you know, we always make sure, like if we're upset at each other,

like he doesn't hear it. And it's, we only praise each other. Like I only praise his mom. How did you come up with such a mature view on that? Because it must be so hard to go through a divorce and then to then have the maturity to say, you know what, I love my kids so much, I'm gonna hold my tongue anytime

there's a negative thought I have. You know, I mean, that's- I think because of how much I've realized in my adult life, how much that impacted me. Like how much that impacted, you know, my relationships with women. It's like, well, if I, like I grew up, and I'm thinking like, maybe it's because I have my dad saying things that,

about my mom, or I don't know, whatever it was. But I, yeah, I just think that it, because I've realized what an impact that had on me, I can never imagine my son hearing me talk about his mom like that, like that I heard my dad talk about. And I'm not trying to throw my parents under the bus or anything like that. But, you heard my dad talk about. And I'm not trying to throw my parents under the bus or anything like that. But, you know, these things happen.

And vice versa. And so I just, and that's just one small example of what I was saying of like how you kind of learn from your parents, like what not to do. You know, I mean, I was spanked like crazy. You know, I was the generation of, you know, I got the belt. My son is terrified of time out. Terrified.

I mean, and time out is literally I just find a place. I'm like, okay, sit there. Now you can't move. And it's it wrecks his world. I mean, it's like, oh, it's hard for me to do it. But sometimes I'm just like, all right, you literally did exactly what I told you not to do. That deserves time out.

And so you set him there and I like walk, like say he's sitting there and I'll like sit over here. I'll be like, now you can't move. And it's literally for like two minutes. Okay. But he will cry and be like, dad, I just want to hug you. I'm so sorry. I just love you.

I just, and, and so that's another thing where I'm like, couldn't you like, he's terrified of time out, like this is this, that works. I'm like, you don't need to go, you don't need to speak. I mean, I don't need to talk about stuff. We're getting too deep. No, we can talk about something like that you don't need to go, you don't need to speak. I mean, I don't need to talk about seven. We're getting too deep. But anyway. We can talk about something light. We can relate to that though.

But those are the things that I'm saying. Like we learned from our parents, it's like, oh, my kid just did something bad. I just set him on timeout and it just corrected his behavior. I didn't have to go up and do 90s parents. I think our son is probably about a year younger than your son. Is he?

Mine's four. Okay. Ours is almost three. Our oldest. And so we were like, the timeouts are, like we call it take a break. It's essentially the same thing. Yeah.

We've rebranded to take a break. It sounds a little bit nicer. Yeah. You know? Yeah. But yeah, so we can totally relate to that. We've talked so much about your early career that I'm like, but now you're doing so many cool things.

You're leaning into the music even more so. Obviously you've been doing that for a long time too. And actually in preparing for this episode, we learned that- You have a massive audience in Mexico. Yeah. I was noticing just like crowds of 20, 30, 40,000 people just jamming out to your music. It was really cool to see.

Yeah, it's crazy. I kind of live in an alternate universe. Yeah, because you're in Mexico City. Yeah, I'm in Mexico City and then I but a tour outside the United States. It's kind of like a different world. Was that some of the appeal? Like trying to escape some of the things in the US? No, I mean not it wasn't really escape it was post pandemic and I'd spent I spent so much time in Mexico I just this is the time where I'd spent the most time because I went down there and did the Masked Singer I recorded the second. Oh that's filmed in Mexico? No I did La Mascara the

Mexico version. Oh, okay. I did the US version here. Okay, I was gonna say, yes. Yeah, that was shot here in LA. But a year before that, I did the Mexico version. Okay, cool. And then finished up the other half of my records. So I was, you know, I've been out there for a long time.

And yeah, it was, I was in LA and post pandemic, like everyone went to Nashville, Texas, Florida. And yeah, I was in LA and post pandemic, like everyone went to Nashville, Texas, Florida, up north. Like everyone moved and left California. And my wife had moved to Florida with my son and she's from Florida, so all of his cousins and aunts and uncles and everyone's there. So she went to Florida and I'm like, okay, so do I go to Florida? What do I do?

And I just was like, nobody, I got nothing here in LA anymore. Yeah. And I was coming back to LA, sitting on my couch, twiddling my thumbs until I had shows or touring or my whatever business came up. So I'd be here for like a month or two doing nothing and then I'd be like, oh sweet, get to go back on the road. And then once I was like, well why am I, I'm just gonna give up my place in LA.

And so yeah, so now I'm just kinda cruising. I'm assuming you're very fluent in Spanish. No. You're not? No way. Is it hard to? I mean I speak Spanish but not like fluent, but I can hold a conversation.

See, you're light years ahead of me and you're Spanish. You really are. Matt's over here like, hola. The immersion helps. Like, the more you have to speak it, that's when you're really, if you're doing Duolingo or you're doing these things, it's gonna be really hard, really hard because you're gonna be learning, my

sister goes to college, my sister goes to the university here, my, where I'm taking my skis to the snow and I'm gonna ski down a mountain, you're like, when are you ever gonna say that in Spanish? There's nowhere you're going to ever say where I'm unless you're in Vail with my friends when we were in Colorado. But you know, you're just it's like you're not learning things that you're going to now put into a conversation. You know, it's like the mouse is under the table. Like I got to go get a mouse and I got to gotta find a table and I gotta put it under there to like Have a conversation like dueling. It just doesn't help you Do you end every one of your shows with the drake and josh theme song? Yeah, that's dope. Yeah people just freaking lose it

Oh you do that's fun. Yeah, well, I didn't realize that was so obviously I know the song But I didn't realize it was a full song because you made it an entire, it's not just for the show. Yeah, so we wrote the song. Well, I wrote, we had a Lenny Kravitz song for the theme song to Drake and Josh for the pilot. Okay. I was watching it at home and this was before we were picked up

and I was just like, and I was like, ah, this is cool, this is so cool. I'm like, you know, cause we only had the pilot and we were like waiting to get picked up but it was like cool. I was like watching like, wow is cool. This is so cool. I'm like, you know, cause we only had the pilot and we were like waiting to get picked up, but it was like cool. I was like watching like, wow, this is, this might be a show one day, but like, look, this is so cool.

But every time I'd watch the opening and it was like a Lenny Kravitz song, I always just kind of had like this. I wish I had, I wish we had like, when you wake up in the morning and the alarm gives off a warning and you're done with me, get on time. Like days go by like a theme song that is

That show like you know, say by the Bell just came on, you know Full House just came on you know Family Matters just came on like By these, you know Gilligan's Island the Brady Bunch. It's like every show is like they've got the theme song And I was like this is gonna be a bummer if this is what we end up using as our theme song, you know? And I didn't know that it was just a placeholder and that Dan had been planning like, well, I'm going to have to figure out how to get a theme song because this was his first show outside of Toland Robinson he was doing on his own.

So he was like, how do I get a theme song? Like, you know, there's people that write theme songs. So that was something that he was worrying about. Like, okay, I gotta figure out, cause he's a love classic TV and he wanted a Brady Bunch, Gilligan's Island, something that is so recognizable and memorable to be the theme song of the show.

Like a two and a half men, you know, it's like every, the second you hear it, you're like, oh, two and a half men's on, you know. And I got the idea, I was like,'re like, oh two and a half men's on you know, and I got the idea I was like maybe I should try and write a theme song You know, cuz if this is what we're gonna use like at least I gotta try yeah, so I went in with a buddy of mine who was writing music with and spent all day trying to write this theme song and nothing came out and then I

Was like, you know what? Because we're comparing them to all of these incredible theme songs that were written by Barry Manilow and Billy Joel and these huge songwriters. And I'm like, I'm like 15 at the time. And I'm like, maybe we're trying to, maybe we're in over our heads. I'm like, let's just write a song today and not waste the day because we've been here all day and not getting anything. And so we kind of came up with this like, and I was like, oh, that's a cool riff. Let's build off of

that. And then we just wrote this song. And as we started to get to the lyric part, because for me, lyrics are always last. So we've got like the melody, we've got the progression, we've got the song and this is great. now let's write the lyrics. And I was like, dude, what if? I'm like, the song is really energetic, it's really cool, like this is, but it didn't sound like TV theme song, you know? I was like, dude, what if we write the lyrics like,

like we're buddies, like it's about a friend, like I'm there to pick you up when you're down, and I'll always be there for you, and it's not like a love story. It's not a guy and a girl. Like this could be, maybe it is a guy and a girl. Maybe it's two girlfriends. Maybe it's two best friends.

Maybe it's two guy friends. Maybe it's a father son. Like this is just like a buddy thing. Like it's like a buddy song. Like, and something about, you know, and then I'm thinking about the show, you know? I'm like, okay, so like me and Josh, like we're like total opposites, right? But we find a way to make it work, you know? And like we kind of, the show. I'm like, okay, so like me and Josh, we're like total opposites, right?

But we find a way to make it work. And like we kind of, and so we just started like, I never thought that we'd be so, I found a way, I found a way, I found a way. Okay, yeah, I found a way, I found a way to what? I found a way to bring us together. Like we're totally polar opposites and now we have to be put together

because our parents get together and we're thrown into our lives and we think it's good. You know, I never thought it'd be so simple, but we found a way and I always thought it'd be crazy. But hey, we found a way and I'll always be there to pick you up when you're down over your shoulder. I'll be picking you up. So it became this like lyrically of these like kind of two opposites coming together and being like, oh, whoa, there's my other half. Like I'm gonna gonna, I got your back. Like, you're my boy. I'm gonna, I'll always be there for you.

And so the lyrics turned into that. Does it bother you that people always mess up the lyrics? Realize and realize. We were, we found that out too. I was like, no way, cause I was seeing it and Matt's like, do you know that's wrong? Like, how do you know the lyrics? She said realize.

You get all the lyrics wrong. And I was like, I was listening to Drake on a podcast when I realized that it was not realized. Well, I was just watching. I was just, I just got to Drake on a podcast with I realized that it was not realized. I was just watching, I just got sent a TikTok from where was it? The Ozarks, some club, some like big party in the Ozarks and they were singing, the whole bar was singing the theme song and they were like, if you open up your eyes and see what's inside. And so I was like, well, I've never heard that one before, but the entire bar said eyes. I was like, wow, it's usually the real line that gets wrong, but open up your eyes to

mind and see what's inside your eyes. Open up your eyes and see what's inside your eyes. Wow. Wait, why do I feel like I also thought it was eyes for a period of time there No, it's open up your mind. I see I was just like had this I'm never good with lyrics I I will admit though. It was yesterday that I realized it was realign. Yeah That's probably I would like to know if there was a poll. I wonder how many people actually know it's realign No, what do they call that like Like the... Well it doesn't rhyme either. Rhyme. Yeah. It's gonna take some time to

realign. So it's gonna take some time to realign but if you look inside I'm sure you'll find a line, fine, that's the rhyme. But if you say realize and then go to the next line you should know it's wrong I'm pretty sure I would just repeat realize when I would sing that because I always botch the lyrics to songs Yeah, make fun of me for it. So that's that's why So you have your new album coming out or it hasn't been released yet? Yeah, the new out know the new album is out. Yeah put out last year and we've been that's what the tour I'm on right now is for the new album non out, yeah, I put it out last year, and that's the tour I'm on right now, is for the new album, Nonstop Flight.

That's cool. She was explaining to us, Amanda was, it's Amanda, right? Oh my gosh, I was like, did I just say the wrong name? Explain the really cool concept album. Yeah, it's a wild, I went overboard. It's a total concept album where, I love kind of the golden era of commercial flight like Pan Am, TWA, 1960s, 70s, big first class and the

everyone dressed up to get on the airplane and they're serving the champagne and cocktails and the big dinners and everything on the flights. And you see these photos that are so, you know, garish and extravagant. I just love that era of flying and that aesthetic. And so with the new album, I wanted to do the artwork like that. So I started doing all the artwork and the music video and doing everything based around that aesthetic. And then I went, oh wait,

we gotta put it like in the record too. So now the album, you're like, it's like a musical journey through the skies. You put the headphones on and the flight attendant comes on and welcomes you to the flight. Welcome to Bel Air. Thank you for flying with us. Sit back, relax and enjoy your ride.

In between songs, I come on as the captain. Fasten your seatbelt. We're gonna have some turbulence. In between songs I come on as the captain, fasten your seatbelt, we're gonna have some turbulence, then some rock songs come on, then it's like you know we're dimming the cabin lights, you know if you prefer to sleep like some pillows are available upon request, then we go to like softer singer songwriter, mellow songs, and then we have like the upper deck lounge opens up and you know where we have special guest entertainment, you can go upstairs, and then we have like this like bossa nova kind of instrumental song that has this kind of cocktail hour vibe that takes

you into this next scene where we're flying over Mexico and you're looking out the passenger, you're looking out the window and seeing the pyramids and the beautiful sun cascading over the mountains of Mexico. And then we go into all of the Latin music, the Latin songs on the record where I'm singing in Spanish and Latin inspired. And then we come in for our landing and that's where we get our like, you know,

and the whole record is set up in, like the first part is my escape from LA, my escape from, or not my escape from LA, but like my wanting to get out of Hollywood and get out of this, you know, after the documentary, all this stuff. It was like, yeah. And then wanting to like get my family out of here and move away. And then realizing that as I was doing that, I was still with, you know, you can't just

leave your problems. Basically you are where you, you know, everywhere you go, there you are. And so separating from my wife wife things like that started to come into play as I'm writing this record and so now you know you go from that to wanting to now another dark period and that's like the second part of the record and going through that and trying to discover and then finding new love and finding new hope and everything and then finally the last part of the record is coming in for the landing,

which is, you know, uh, the last song is, uh, draw me closer. And it's like a very hopeful, like it's going to be okay, brighter future, brighter things lie ahead. And so it's like a whole, it's kind of like, I don't write journal or diaries, you know, it's like, that's kind of like, basically, if you want to have an insight of what's been going on with me for diaries, you know, it's like that's kind of like basically if you want to have An insight of what's been going on with me for the past, you know 39 years That's that's really check out the album. That must have been pretty therapeutic to write that album

It was it was very cathartic. I think the whole yeah experience and there's a lot of lyrics that i've Put on that album that I definitely wouldn't have put on had I not told my story, because there were things that are like, oh, this is way too revealing, or it's way too transparent. I have to be more poetic about this, to veil it, to hide it.

But there's some very honest stuff that I was able to just come out on the album and just be like, which is really cool. And then I'm able to make music videos I kind of relate, which I'm able to really like talk about my past and things that I had kept hidden and now express that through my art and through the, the, the visuals and the music videos and stuff and, um, tell my story in that sort of way, which is, yeah, it's very therapeutic and cathartic.

Were you able to write any of those songs while you were going through rehab? Did they ever allow you? Yeah, actually I have a couple songs on there. I've got a song called, what is it, was it a dream? I forget what I ended up calling it. I think it's what is it a dream.

I actually wrote in rehab. There was a little out of tune piano in the chapel across from my dorm, and we had like a half hour lunch every day and so I'd like go grab a quick bite and then run to the chapel and I'd play this out of tune piano and Ended up writing that song and put that on the album. Mm-hmm. So cool. Yeah, so so cool Well, I'll definitely be streaming your album. I really appreciate you taking the time today to come speak with us Yeah, thank you. Share your story. I think there's just so much to be gathered from it and I think so much change that needs to happen

But you having the vulnerability to share what happened to you and you know focus on a brighter future I think it's just really inspiring for so many people. So yeah, we really appreciate you coming out today I'm excited to see what's more to come too. Thanks for having me