Drake Bell isn’t letting his former colleagues off the hook as easily as they did convicted child molester Brian Peck.
The former Drake and Josh star, 37, who has identified himself as the minor dialogue coach Brian Peck was convicted of molesting, in Investigation Discovery’s docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, has lashed out at Boy Meets World stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong for writing letters of support for Peck ahead of his 2004 sentencing hearing, asking for leniency, in new comments under an Instagram post made by Alexa Nikolas’ account, @matchthesource, earlier this week.
The two Boy Meets World stars spoke with former co-star Danielle Fishel on the Pod Meets World podcast, claiming they had been groomed by Peck into defending him.
After former Nickelodeon star Alexa Nikolas heard the recording, she took to social media blasting the men.
After some fans posted that Friedle and Strong may have been manipulated by Peck into writing, the letters, Bell was having none of it. He pointed out that both were adults at the time Peck pleaded no contest to committing a lewd act against a child and oral copulation on a person under the age of 16.
Peck, who worked with Friedle on Ultimate Spider-Man, blasted his former co-star.
Drake Bell, 37, has blasted former Boy Meets World stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong for writing letters of support for convicted child molester Brian Peck ahead of his 2004 sentencing hearing, asking for leniency
‘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. Will was not manipulated,’ he contended.
‘Brian admitted to him and he wrote the letter anyway. Then he worked with me on many many episodes of Spider Man years later and never said a word to me about it. This is because they were told there [sic] letters are going to be made public. Everyone thought the letters would be sealed forever and no one would ever see them.’
Bell was cynical about the reason his former colleague was expressing his regret, writing, ‘This is their publicist telling them how to get ahead of the story.’
In a separate post, Bell held Strong accountable for his actions, writing, ‘No he wasn’t. RIDER WAS 24 years old when he wrote the letter and was told by Brian what he did. He wrote the letter anyway.’
Bell has revealed Friedle and Strong were not the only celebrities to overlook Peck’s crimes and offer their support.
According to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com, the abuse took place when Peck visited the minor actor at his home for acting coaching. He was apprehended after the young actor’s parents reported the abuse to the police.
Peck was initially charged with 11 counts, but admitted to only two in a plea agreement.
Boy Meets World alums Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, 42, and Will Friedle spoke about their experience with Peck February 19 on their podcast
Boy Meets World co-stars Rider Strong, 44, (left) and Will Friedle, 47, who met Peck when he guest-starred on their show, wrote letters to the judge and showed up in support of Peck
After defending his actions on Pod Meets World, Bell called out his former Ultimate Spider-Man co-star, saying he was an adult at the time he came to Peck’s defense in a letter asking for leniency
Bell pointed out Strong was also an adult at the time of the sentencing hearing and showed his support for the admitted predator
The Going Away singer claimed when he and his parents entered the courtroom for the sentencing hearing, it was packed with celebrities supporting his admitted molester.
‘I looked at all of them and I just said, “How dare you?”‘ Bell said. ‘I said, “You will forever have the memory of sitting in this courtroom and defending this person.
‘And I will forever have the memory of the person you’re defending violating me and doing unspeakable acts and crimes and that’s what I will remember.”‘
Strong and Friedle, who met Peck when he who was a guest star for two episodes on Boy Meets World’s fifth season in 1999, also wrote letters to the judge.
One of the letters sent by the sitcom actors read: ‘It was extremely disturbing to learn of Brian’s arrest. Maliciousness is so antithetical to his nature, it is impossible for me to comprehend a situation that would lead him to do something illegal or even inappropriate.’
‘I immediately called him and offered whatever support I could. Of course, Brian being Brian, he had already received numerous such calls.’
Some of those who penned letters of support included actor James Marsden, 50, who revealed that Peck was his best man at his wedding to Lisa Linde in 2000.
In a letter reviewed by US Weekly, the X-Men star called the dialogue coach his ‘mentor’ and wrote, ‘I don’t mean to dramatize this but I am speaking wholeheartedly about a man whose heart is pure and no matter what you’re talking about, his intentions are always good. He has such an amazing capacity to care about people. This, I find, is very rare. Especially in Hollywood. Brian genuinely cares about other human beings.’
Growing Pains stars Joanna Kerns, 71, and the late Alan Thicke, also spoke highly of Peck.
In excerpt of a letter penned by Kerns, and shown on the documentary she seemed to blame the victim. ‘I can only believe there must have been some extreme situation or temptation exerted upon him to influence his actions.’
The actress later issued a statement refuting the letter saying: ‘I have now learned that my letter of support was based on complete misinformation. Knowing what I know now, I never would have written the letter.’
The large show of support could have contributed to the relatively light sentence Peck received. He as sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender. The maximum sentence under California law in up to eight years.
Peck in 2003 was accused of 11 counts of child molestation, and the following year he entered a no contest plea to committing a lewd act against a child and oral copulation on a person under the age of 16. Pictured in 2012 in Burbank
Peck faced up to eight years in prison but was sentenced to 16 months behind bars in connection with his plea, and was mandated to register as a sex offender. He continued to be hired to work on projects involving minors after his release
James Marsden, 50, and other celebrities wrote letters of support for Brian Peck after he was accused of the child sexual abuse a minor, now known to be Drake Bell in 2003 (Marsden pictured March 10)
In 2015, DailyMail.com exposed that despite his conviction, Peck continued to work on a Disney show and a high school–themed horror film.
He faced restrictions only in direct contact with children, enabling him to be hired in alternative roles, even on projects prominently involving children and teenagers.
Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, he sustained minor acting roles and worked as a dialogue coach. His last credited acting appearance, according to IMDb, was in 2018.
The two-part series, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV airs March 17 and 18 on Discovery.
