Entertainment
Drake Bell Reflects on Coverage of His Teenage ‘Missteps’ (Exclusive)

- Drake Bell starred in The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh on Nickelodeon in the 2000s
- The actor tells PEOPLE about “trying to figure out life” as an “adolescent” after Drake & Josh ended in 2007
- Bell says “there’s a strong love” for his music “outside the U.S.” and he will be heading to South America for tour dates in support of his latest album, Non-Stop Flight
Life in Hollywood can be tough on anyone, but navigating it as a kid put extra pressure on Drake Bell.
“When you’re an adult, of course, it still has [an] effect, but when you’re this adolescent trying to figure out life and all of a sudden you’re like, ‘Why every time?’” Bell, 38, tells PEOPLE.
The Nickelodeon alum feels like even when he didn’t “make a mistake” while out and about in the 2000s, the media would try to make it seem like he did.
“You’re walking with your friends and you trip outside of the Chateau Marmont on your way to the taco shop, and all of a sudden the next day it’s like, ‘Drake Bell stumbles drunk out of the Chateau Marmont,’” Bell says. “You’re like, ‘There was a crack! I tripped on the sidewalk!’ It’s always just that highlighting of all of your missteps.”
Charley Gallay/WireImage
Bell came up during the peak tabloid era, but he’ll take that over today’s intense social media scrutiny.
“I’m thankful that Josh and I missed the social media era while we were working,” he says of former Drake & Josh costar Josh Peck. “We didn’t have to compare, ‘Why did Josh have more followers than I do on Instagram? Oh, Josh got more likes on his picture than I did that I posted. What do I have to do?’ I’m just so glad that we didn’t have to live through that.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Though Bell has been focusing on his music as he tours the world for his latest album, Non-Stop Flight, the “I Kind of Relate” singer hasn’t abandoned acting. Bell reveals he’s been working on a “fun romantic comedy” in Mexico, where he’s amassed a large fan base.
“I’m in Mexico a lot,” Bell says. “I recorded half my record there. I do a lot of work there, but I feel like I don’t have a permanent place right now just because I’m traveling so much. It’s literally spend two days in my apartment and then every other day is in a hotel, on a plane, in a car. I’m not sure where I live right now!”
Medios y Media/Getty
The ex-teen star does consider Mexico home now, though, after his music took off there following the end of Drake & Josh.
“I don’t know if in the States maybe sometimes there’s been a stigma of like, ‘Oh, you’re on TV. You’re not a real music [person].’ They just blur the lines outside the United States,” Bell hypothesizes of why his music took off in Mexico and South America. “So they know me from the show, but the first time we went out there, they’re singing all the lyrics from the album, the songs that aren’t on the show, and fans are telling me about my lyrics and my songs. There’s a strong love for the music outside the U.S. It’s really cool.”
Bell says that “loving what I do” has helped him navigate life after opening up about the sexual abuse he endured as a child star under his former dialogue coach Brian Peck in the Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries last year.
“I want to get on stage and perform. I want to make movies and TV. I want to make people laugh,” he continues. “I got to just stay focused and happy and healthy and keep my mind away from the demons. They’re always there, but being positive, trying not to dwell and keeping people around you that care about you, that’s something that I really gained. I have people that really care about what I have to say, and I need to focus on this.”
Entertainment
Bad blood at CNN years after Chris Cuomo broke ‘bro code’ and ‘stabbed’ Jeff Zucker ‘in the front,’ insiders say

It’s been over three years since Chris Cuomo was axed from CNN — but bruised feelings remain at the network over his ouster, and the departure of his onetime boss, Jeff Zucker.
Cuomo reignited the CNN feud during a recent episode of Patrick Bet-David’s podcast by slamming his former cable news bestie, Don Lemon, for not having his back when he was fired.
Sources, however, tell Page Six it was Cuomo who broke the “bro code” when he allegedly backstabbed his old boss, Jeff Zucker, and girlfriend Allison Gollust, who were engulfed in a scandal at the time.
“Jeff put him in primetime. Jeff protected him and Chris sold him out,” a source told Page Six. “He stabbed [Zucker] in the front [by] trying to take the network down,” they added.
Multiple sources said they believe Cuomo was the whistleblower behind Zucker and Gollust’s relationship being exposed, despite it being “the worst kept secret in media,” as one person said.
Cuomo described the accusation as “absurd” in a statement to Page Six. (He’s currently in a $125 million legal battle with CNN).
Meanwhile, the affair led Zucker to resign as head of CNN, while Gollust — who once worked for Cuomo’s brother, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — eventually stepped down as CMO.
We’re told some CNN staffers are still sore at Cuomo, who they believe, “tried to take down network,” by filing suit when he got the boot.
“It felt vindictive. Jeff and Allison were beloved. Chris was not. I don’t think I’ve ever heard one person say a good thing about him,” one media insider told Page Six.
Another source familiar with the situation told us, “No one at CNN speaks to [Cuomo],” after he tried to “sully anyone’s credibility and reputation.”
A source told us the situation also ended his friendship with Lemon, who told Mediaite last year he still loves the NewsNation host.
Cuomo blasted the accusations as “absurd” and told us, “I have many friends from CNN. It was a great place.”
“The rest of this is absurd and will come out in litigation. If Jeff Zucker or Don Lemon want to have an honest conversation with me, they know how to find me,” he said.
Zucker and Lemon did not comment.
An insider familiar with the situation then dismissed Cuomo’s comments as “absurd,” and a “naked play for attention.”
Cuomo and Lemon previously hosted “The Handoff” podcast as a spinoff of their once-popular nightly handovers on CNN, between their past shows, “Cuomo Prime Time” and “Don Lemon Tonight.”
Despite previously proclaiming how real their bromance was, Cuomo said in the podcast interview that the banter was just Zucker’s idea, due to his concern about how Lemon would open his show.
In 2022, Zucker wrote colleagues in a memo: “As part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo’s tenure at CNN, I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for more than 20 years… I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t. I was wrong. As a result, I am resigning today.”
Entertainment
Drew Barrymore Meets Woman with ’50 First Dates’ Disorder

- Nesh Pillay, who struggles with short-term memory loss as documented in the Prime series, 50,000 First Dates: A True Story, shared her struggle with Drew Barrymore, who played a woman with the same disorder in the film 50 First Dates
- Pillay said it started with “a series of head bumps” until one day, she couldn’t remember that she had a daughter Sinead
- While “I cannot retain my memories, I can make memories,” Pillay said, adding that she’s “grateful” that she exists
Drew Barrymore — who famously played Lucy Whitmore, a woman with short-term memory in the 2004 comedy 50 First Dates — interviewed a woman with the real disorder who shared her life in the Prime documentary, 50,000 First Dates: A True Story.
“I always thought that it was an improbable sort of storyline. It turns out that maybe it isn’t,” Barrymore, whose character woke up every morning unable to recall the previous day, said when welcoming Nesh Pillay to the April 23 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show.
Pillay, 35, told Barrymore, 50, that, from a young age, “I’ve had a series of head bumps.”
Amazon MGM Studios
“My memory was just worse. Then, three years ago, I woke up from a nap, felt a little bit funny. By the end of that day, I started asking JJ [Jakope], my fiancé, questions like, ‘Where are we going?’ ‘What are we doing today?’ Just being confused. By the end of that day, we went to pick up my daughter, and I remember thinking, ‘No. I don’t know how to take care of a child. I don’t have a daughter.’ “
As she explains in the documentary, Pillay thought her fiancé was her Uber driver. She told Barrymore that, over the next few days “my memory regressed to the point that … [it] reset about once a minute.”
“My family took me to the doctor. At first, they were like, ‘This has to be related to her former brain injuries, but she should be fine in a couple of days.’ I wasn’t, so they took me to a different hospital. The assumption was, ‘Well, we don’t know what’s going on, so she must be faking.’ It was not until filming this docuseries, truly, that I was connected to the neuroscientist Morgan Barense … [that we] finally got some very real answers about what’s going on with my brain.”
As she explained, “The different centers of your brain are connected through neural pathways. Like highways almost. And a lot of mine are damaged. The other thing is brain atrophy. If you look at my brain, it’s a lot smaller. There’s a lot of empty space in there, which means that brain tissue is dead. We’re still kind of figuring out if it’s actively dying. There’s no answers. It’s very confusing. I spend a lot of time questioning reality. Like everything I perceive, I kind of go to my therapist and my parents and my journal to piece together what is real life.”
CBS/pillay.nesh/Instagram
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
She also shared that she and her fiancé separated when her memory was “resetting very often” — and sounded off on the imbalance that often occurs “when women’s stories are told.”
“It’s always really a man’s hero journey,” Pillay said. “It’s like a love story and, ‘Ugh this man stayed with her.’ “ But, she added, her documentary isn’t about romantic love. “It’s familial love. It’s sister love. It’s friend love. It’s self-love. And there are all of these other important types of love for women that we really need to be prioritizing. For me in this, I didn’t want the message to be: ‘And then they lived happily ever after.’ I’d rather create something real that connects with people than something pretty or perfect.”
She shared that while “I cannot retain my memories, I can make memories” — and that’s something she focuses on.
“I exist. I’m very grateful for that. For as long as I get to be alive and be present and everything I get to experience, I am endlessly grateful.”
Entertainment
Camryn D’Aloia, Renee Portnoy, more

Dave Portnoy is off the market! After the Barstool Sports founder confirmed that he’s dating Camryn D’Aloia, Page Six decided to slice into his dating history. Watch the full video to learn more about the ladies of his past.
Subscribe to our YouTube for the latest on all your favorite stars.
-
Entertainment3 weeks ago
Mel Gibson Can Own Guns Again After DOJ Removes Domestic Violence Restrictions
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago
Lady Gaga pays homage to past music videos in nearly 2-hour Coachella 2025 headlining set
-
Technology3 weeks ago
TechCrunch Mobility: Tesla takes a hit, tariff chaos begins, and one EV startup hits a milestone
-
Entertainment3 weeks ago
Mexico’ actor Manuel Masalva ‘fighting for his life’ in coma after bacterial infection
-
Life Style2 weeks ago
160 Inspirational Birthday Quotes for a Happy, Fun and Meaningful Celebration
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago
Hailey Bieber shows off skimpy animal-printed bikini ahead of Coachella 2025
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago
MGK Makes Surprise Appearance at Coachella After Welcoming Baby with Megan Fox
-
Life Style3 weeks ago
101 Short Mother’s Day Quotes for a Happy, Loving and Grateful Day