Drake Bell Files Florida Divorce After Years of Public Turmoil and Split

Sage Matthews: Of course this happened. I was up at 2 AM reading the news and muttering, “Of course this happened.” Drake Bell has officially filed for divorce from his estranged wife, Janet Von Schmeling, in Seminole County, Florida, on August 14, 2024, marking a formal legal close to a separation that has been public, messy, and long simmering.

Let us not pretend the timeline is tidy. Von Schmeling originally filed her own divorce petition in Los Angeles in April 2023, citing a separation date of September 2022. The couple’s single child, Wyatt, now four, was listed in those filings with Von Schmeling requesting primary legal and physical custody, spousal support, and visitation arrangements for Bell. Now Bell has answered with his own filing in Florida, according to reports by TMZ and Entertainment Weekly. This is not a surprise so much as the logical next step when two legal systems and separate filings collide.

Their public history reads like a cautionary tale about the toll of celebrity stress, addiction, and old mistakes. Bell, once the sunny kid from Nickelodeon sitcoms like “Drake and Josh” and “The Amanda Show,” has been wrestling with real demons in full view. He pleaded guilty in 2021 to two criminal counts related to inappropriate messages sent to a minor in 2017, a case that resulted in two years of probation and 200 hours of community service. The timing was awkward at best; Bell announced he had been married and had a son just two weeks after that guilty plea. Sources including Page Six and the New York Post have tracked the ensuing fallout closely.

By late 2022, turmoil intensified. Emotionally fraught public moments such as a viral incident of Bell allegedly huffing balloons with his son in the car prompted Von Schmeling to publicly say she was “HEALING” and moving with their child to Florida. The split was confirmed by Page Six in early 2023. Insiders told outlets that Von Schmeling had had enough and wanted stability for Wyatt, while also noting that Bell has been a good father when sober and healthy.

Von Schmeling’s April 2023 filing followed reports that Bell was struggling with suicidal thoughts and a troubling missing-person report. Bell said at the time he learned about the filing via TMZ. Meanwhile, Von Schmeling has moved on publicly; she began dating Jim Perez and went Instagram official in October 2023. Earlier in 2024 she announced she is expecting a baby girl with Perez, adding a new chapter to the family dynamic.

Bell’s manager, Juan José Rovirosa, told Entertainment Weekly that the divorce process began with Von Schmeling’s 2023 filing and that both parties are now “simply concluding that legal process.” The manager emphasized their shared priority is the safety and well-being of Wyatt and framed the split as the closing of “a beautiful chapter” that will evolve into a different kind of co-parenting relationship.

So here we are. A once-bright child actor who faded from squeaky-clean sitcom fame into criminal legal troubles, public struggles with mental health and substances, and a complicated family split that winds its way through two states and multiple court filings. This new Florida filing does not reinvent the story. It merely notarizes what has been playing out for years: a family trying to rearrange life after a very public descent and a mother forging a new path with a growing family.

Expect more paperwork, possibly jurisdictional squabbles, and charged statements from both camps as attorneys sort out custody, visitation, and support. Fans who once cheered for a kid-star success might feel wistful or vindicated depending on their patience for redemption narratives. Either way, the public record now contains a fresh divorce filing that cements a split a lot of us already assumed had been finalized in spirit.

At this point, should we even pretend to be surprised that the legal system is simply catching up to reality. Watch for court dates, custody clarifications, and any statements from Bell or Von Schmeling that alter the media storyline. This will definitely age well, said no one ever.

Anyway, can’t wait to see how this gets worse.

Sources: Celebrity Storm and TMZ, Entertainment Weekly, Page Six, New York Post
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed