The Beef Between Josh Peck And Jennette McCurdy Explained

Jennette McCurdy and Josh Peck are best known for their respective roles on "iCarly" and "Drake & Josh." And though their runs on Nickelodeon barely overlapped —iCarly premiered the same month that "Drake & Josh" concluded — McCurdy and Peck eventually found friendship outside the bright orange walls they once called home. Peck even championed McCurdy after releasing her memoir, "I'm Glad My Mom Died," which detailed her traumatic upbringing as a child star and her toxic relationship with her mother. Peck also described McCurdy as a friend when he posted a photo of them running into each other at an airport. "My friend Jennette wrote a book and it's out today," wrote Peck on Instagram. "She's brave, funny and thoughtful in ways few are. Get it today!"

While little is known of their friendship, it's possible that Peck and McCurdy bonded over their pasts as child actors. In 2022, Peck even shared his experience about growing up in the entertainment business in a book titled "Happy People Are Annoying." When promoting the project, Peck thanked his mother for keeping him off a destructive path. "I'm really lucky to have a great mom who sort of instilled this strong foundation for me early on," Peck revealed on "Daily Pop" (via E! News). However, Peck still got into some "regrettable behavior ... before camera phones." Unfortunately, Peck and McCurdy fell off of the friendship train after she appeared on his podcast.

Jennette McCurdy and Josh Peck were on good terms, at least until she released her memoir. McCurdy even booked a slot on Peck's "Good Guys" podcast to promote it. "She was our first ever guest," said Peck's co-host Ben Soffer in April 2023 (via Us Weekly). "Like the day that she released her book, she came on, and it was an amazing get for us," he added. "We were truly good guys [and] had an unbelievable interview where we spoke about what she wanted to and nothing that she didn't. However, they never released the interview because of McCurdy's request. "It ended, and she told us not to run it. So, there is an unreleased episode of our podcast."

Peck also told his side of the podcast debacle. "Us being the good guys that we are, we said we would kill it," said Peck, who also revealed that they asked if McCurdy would re-record her episode at a later date. But she didn't respond. "Four or five months later, I was, like, 'Let us check in. She owes us,'" continued Peck." However, he believes that McCurdy blocked him after texting her and getting a "green bubble" in response. Even though it seems clear that these Nick stars have fallen out, McCurdy never responded to Peck's claims or explained why she changed her mind. However, it's possible that McCurdy wanted to expand her experience on her own platform. She released her "Hard Feelings" podcast this fall, per Variety.

If Josh Peck expected to get sympathy about being unable to air Jennette McCurdy's podcast interview, he certainly got a rude awakening after airing out his grievances. Many users on X, formerly known as Twitter, were squarely on McCurdy's side of the feud. After Peck's podcast aired, a fan account posted a clip of the episode discussing McCurdy, and it didn't take long for McCurdy's fans to swarm the clip.

"That second clip is gross," tweeted one fan. "I don't trust ppl that constantly have to tell people they're 'the good guys', also 'she owes us'???" A second fan also took issue with Peck and Ben Soffer referring to themselves as "good guys." "Something about Josh Peck just makes me feel uncomfortable," they tweeted. "Also why does [he] have to reiterate they are 'good guys' and how [Jennette] 'owes them' like weird way to word all that." Another fan condemned Peck's character. "Josh Peck just gives off 'horrible person' vibes and I used to love tf out of him growing up," wrote the user. Meanwhile, another fan accused Peck of using McCurdy for his own personal gain. "Josh was probably trying to exploit Jennette, he knew the views he'd get with that interview and she wasn't having it. Queen behavior," said the fan. Unsurprisingly, Peck hasn't brought up McCurdy since this episode.