Drake Bell continues to speak out after revealing his own history of sexual abuse.
In a series of deleted comments left on posts from Zoe 101 Podcast with star Alexa Nicholas and Danielle Fishel, who brought on Rider Strong and Will Friedle; Pod meets the world — Bell, 37, boy meets world Alumni's involvement in his criminal case against Brian Peck.
Ms. Strong, 44, and Ms. Friedl, 47, are longtime friends and once wrote a letter defending Ms. Peck. boy meets world A guest appearance in 2003 when Bell accused him of sexual assault.Bell reveals assault allegations on new series of Investigation Discovery Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TVand has been speaking out about the incident on social media in the days since its premiere.
“Ryder was 24 years old when he wrote the letter and was informed of what he had done by Brian,” Ms. Bell wrote in a since-deleted comment on Ms. Nicholas's post, adding that Ms. Strong had been with Peck since before she supported him. He claimed to have known about the abuse he suffered at the hands of Mr. he said, according to a video shared by Barstool Sports. “He wrote the letter anyway.''
In another comment, which has also been deleted, Mr. Bell said that Mr. Friedl, then 27 years old, “told him what Brian did to him,” which suggests that Mr. Friedl did not believe that Mr. Bell had sexually assaulted him. He said that meant he was aware of the abuse. “A lot of people turned their backs and said they wouldn’t write letters; [Strong and Friedle] did. ”
Mr. Bell said Mr. Friedl “was not being manipulated. Brian acknowledged that, so he wrote the letter anyway.”
PEOPLE has reached out to Strong and Friedl for comment.
Tommaso Body/Getty
After Friedl sided with Peck in court, Warner said Peck, Bell's former dialogue coach, was “convicted of crimes against Drake in 2004 and ordered to register as a sex offender.”・Brothers Discovery said in a press release shared with PEOPLE.move on to work with drake and josh Actor: Appeared in many episodes spiderman Years have passed and no one has said anything to me about it,” Bell wrote in a comment.
According to Bell, the two boy meets world Alumni spoke about their former friendship with Peck on a February episode of the podcast as they learned the “letter would be made public.”
“Everyone thought the letter would be sealed forever and no one would ever see it. This is their publicist telling them how to get ahead of the story.” Concluded.
On last month's podcast episode, Strong said he and Peck were together “all the time,” and Friedl noted how Peck was “very much a part of my life.”
“The person he introduced me to was a wonderful, interesting person who was very good at his job and someone I wanted to hang out with,” he added. “I saw him every day, spent time with him every day, talked to him every day.”
Friedl said that when Peck told him about his arrest (according to an August 2003 Los Angeles Police Department press release, he was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct with a child), “It wasn't my fault.'' “It was clearly my fault,'' he said. It's his victim's fault. ”
Peck “turned us against the victims,” Friedl argued.
“Having spent so many years with him, my first instinct was, 'Well, of course it can't be you, it can't be like that, yeah, you're innocent, it can't be like that.' ” Friedl continued to recall. “That's why, as an adult, I look back and lean into guys who are like, 'He's terrible.' And my first instinct is, 'Well, my friend can't do that.' was. [this person], that can't be true. Therefore, it must be the other person's fault.'' ”
“Of course, it makes perfect sense. The way he said it and the way he said, 'You're right, it's her fault. Is that who he is?'” It makes me want to cry that I was so naive,” he added.
everett
For his part, Mr Strong said Mr Peck “didn't say nothing happened” but rather suggested he was “prison fodder”.
“Back then, you couldn't Google what people were being charged with,” Strong said before speculating. He was being charged with a series of crimes that we didn't know about. ”
Never miss a news. Sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to human interest stories.
Reflecting on their involvement in the case, both of whom wrote letters to the judge in Peck's defense and appeared in court to support him, Friedl said they were “on the wrong side of everything.” “I was sitting in the courtroom,” he admitted.
“The victim's mother turned around and said, 'Look at all the celebrities you brought in, and it doesn't change what you did to my child,'” he recalled. I just sat there and wanted to die. I was like, 'What the hell am I doing here?'” It was terrifying all the way through. ”
“We weren't told the full story, but the fact remains that we did it,” Friedl added. “I still can't put into words everything I feel inside.”
If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual abuse, please text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line (741-741). Connect with a certified crisis counselor.
