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Josh Peck says he was "screwed" over with his Drake & Josh salary

6 April 2022, 12:31

Josh Peck does the Miranda Cosgrove cussing challenge

By Sam Prance

Josh Peck says that he was part of a generation of child actors who were "screwed" over.

Josh Peck has opened up about his Drake & Josh salary, and has revealed that he didn't earn nearly as much as you might expect.

It goes without saying that Drake & Josh is one of the biggest Nickelodeon shows of all time. Ever since it first aired in 2004, viewers haven't been able to get enough of stepbrothers Drake Parker and Josh Nichols and their younger sister Megan. In fact, the series is so popular that even though it ended in 2007, Nickelodeon still often air reruns of the show to this day.

Now, Josh Peck, who played Josh in Drake & Josh, has revealed exactly how much he was paid per episode of the show.

How much was Josh Peck paid per Drake & Josh episode?

Josh Peck reveals exactly how much his Drake & Josh salary was. Picture: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images, Nickelodeon

In his memoir, Happy People Are Annoying, Josh explains that he earned roughly $15,000 per episode of the show and this came to around $900,000 in total over the show’s four seasons. However, given that Josh had to pay his agent 20% of his salary, as well as various fees to his managers, he says that he was left with $450,000 from all his work on the show.

Josh says that $450,000 is "still not bad" but low by Hollywood standards. He explains: "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 a year." Josh adds that he was "frugal" with his money after growing up in a financially unstable household but still struggled at times.

Discussing his salary further on the BFFs podcast, Josh revealed that he does not even get residual checks from reruns of the show and hasn't made any money from it since 2007. He said: "It aired from 2004 to 2007, but — fun fact — because kids’ TV doesn’t have residuals, it’s still on every day."

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Josh added: "I’ve worked through it. It’s taken a while, but I’m here at 35 telling you I’m OK now. I think I was [a part of] a generation of kids who got screwed. It just was sort of [those] early days. I mean, in a weird way, it was Kenan & Kel, All That, and then my show."

He ended by saying: "I think now kids have gotten way smarter, and they’re getting that back."