Nickelodeon star Drake Bell is calling out “Boy Meets World” stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong over their past support of his convicted abuser, Brian Peck.
Bell is breaking his silence about the abuse he allegedly suffered at the hands of Peck in the new docuseries “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” premiering tonight on Investigation Discovery.
The docuseries shared unsealed court documents from Peck’s trial, which contained letters supporting the convicted sex offender from Friedle and Strong, as well as other stars like James Marsden, Taran Killam, and the late Alan Thicke.
Alex Nikolas, a fellow Nickelodeon child star and participant in the documentary, shared a post on Instagram slamming the “Boy Meets World” stars, and Bell replied to fans’ comments implying they were victims of Peck as well.
Drake Bell called out “Boy Meets World” stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong over letters they wrote in support of his alleged abuser, Brian Peck. (Getty Images)
NICKELODEON FORMER CHILD STAR EXPOSES ALLEGED SEX ABUSE IN BOMBSHELL DOCUMENTARY
“Will was 27 years old and Brian told him what he did many people turned away and said no I won’t write a letter but they did,” Bell wrote. “Will was not manipulated. Brian admitted it to him and he wrote the letter anyway.”
He continued, “Then he [Friedle] worked with me on many many episodes of [‘Ultimate Spider-Man’] years later and never said a word to me about it. This is because they were told there letters are going to be made public. Everyone thought the letters would be sealed forever and no one would ever see them. This is their publicist telling them how to get ahead of the story.”
In a separate comment response, Bell also noted that, “RIDER WAS 24 years old when he wrote the letter and was told by Brian what he did. He wrote the letter anyway.”
Bell, Friedle, and Strong did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Bell claimed Friedle and Strong only spoke out on their podcast because, “Everyone thought the letters would be sealed forever and no one would ever see them. This is their publicist telling them how to get ahead of the story.” (Michael Tran)
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Friedle and Strong addressed their support of Peck on their podcast, “Pod Meets World,” earlier this month, ahead of the release of details about the “Quiet on Set” documentary.
“There’s no way I could have been manipulated like this because I was an adult,” Friedle said. “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.”
Strong remembered Peck admitting to the crime but spinning the assault so 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 said.
Strong and Friedle both contended on their podcast that they were misled by Peck about the case and his crime. Friedle called it “a failure of my own” to see the darker side of what was going on. (Ron Gallela)
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Neither indicated if they were aware that Bell was the victim or who he was at the time.
In the documentary, Bell detailed the alleged abuse by Peck during his time at Nickelodeon, recalling the day the relationship went from uncomfortable to full-blown assault and abuse when he was 15.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep, and I woke up to him … I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me. And I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react,” Bell said.
He continued, “The abuse was extensive. And it got pretty brutal, pretty brutal. I don’t know, I really don’t know how to elaborate on that on camera really.”
Bell alleges that Peck sexually abused him during his time at Nickelodeon. (Christopher Polk)
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Peck was accused of molesting a child in 2003 and was later charged with eight counts of sexual abuse. Peck was convicted of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under the age of 16 and spent 16 months in prison.
Nickelodeon issued a statement to Fox News Digital about Bell. “Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward,” the statement said.