Actor Drake Bell recently opened up about the s*xual abuse he allegedly suffered at the hands of a former Nickelodeon dialogue coach, Brian Peck. Sharing horrifying details during the third episode of the Investigation Discovery series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Bell revealed how he was the unnamed minor in the 2004 s*xual assault conviction of Peck.
The docuseries further shared unsealed court documents from Brian Peck’s trial which included supportive letters from Boy Meets World stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong. Later on, Drake Bell shared an Instagram post slamming the Boy Meets World stars for supporting an abuser. However, ahead of the documentary release, Friedle and Strong addressed their support towards Peck and denied being aware of the assaults.
Drake Bell Opened Up About Brian Peck Abuse Allegations
According to a Los Angeles Police Department release, Nickelodeon dialogue coach, Brian Peck was arrested on Aug. 19, 2003, for his s*xual assault against minors. The court later pronounced him guilty of a lewd act upon a child of 14 or 15 and forcing oral copulation on a person under 16. Peck was thereafter ordered a prison sentence and registered as a s*X offender.
After years since Brian Peck’s arrest, former Nickelodeon child star Drake Bell recently came out, alleging that he was the unnamed minor in the s*xual assault conviction of the dialogue coach. Appearing on the new Investigation Discovery documentary – Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Bell finally opened up about the abuse he suffered at the hands of Peck, via Fox News.
Addressing how the abuse took place at Brian Peck’s house and lasted several months, Drake Bell mentioned that the acting coach had cemented himself in Bell’s life when he was just 15. Meanwhile, before the premiere of the docuseries, Alexa Nikolas, who was a participant in the documentary, shared a post on Instagram slamming the Boy Meets World stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong, who were known for sending supportive letters to Brian Peck.
As per the unsealed court documents from Brian Peck’s trial, that were shared during the docuseries, Will Friedle and Rider Strong were spotted among other stars, who were known for sending letters supporting the convicted s*x offender. Therefore, calling out the actors on social media, Drake Bell commented that “Will was not manipulated. Brian admitted it to him and he wrote the letter anyway”. Blaming Friedle and Strong for supporting Peck while turning a blind eye to his crimes, Bell called out the stars.
The Boy Meets World Stars Denied Being Aware of the Crimes
However, ahead of Drake Bell’s documentary, and prior to his comments on Alexa Nikolas’ Instagram post where he called out Will Friedle and Rider Strong, the Boy Meets World stars addressed their support of Brian Peck on their podcast, Pod Meets World. Perhaps due to the then-upcoming Quiet on Set docuseries detailing child abuse, Friedle and Strong considered it right to clear off their baggage beforehand. Therefore claiming that they weren’t aware of the acting coach’s crimes, Friedle and Strong admitted failing to see the darker side of what was going on.
“There’s no way I could have been manipulated like this because I was an adult. By the time I had heard what had happened, I had known this man for years and years, had no idea that any of this was going on, obviously, and the idea that now at 24 or whatever I was, 24 or 25 when I found out about it — that I didn’t know, couldn’t spot it — that was a failure of my own.” Friedle stated.
Although Rider Strong admitted remembering how Brian Peck admitted to his crimes, the actor revealed how Peck would cunningly spin the assault in such a way that it appeared as though Peck was the victim.
“It was always in the context of, ‘I did this thing, I am guilty. I am going to take whatever punishment the government determines, but I’m a victim of jailbait. There was this hot guy. I just did this thing, and he’s underage.’ And we bought that storyline,”. Strong shared.
Avoiding to address whether they were aware of the crimes against Drake Bell, the Boy Meets World stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong seemingly denied everything that Bell later claimed during the documentary.
