Drake Bell revealed he has forgiven one of the actors who wrote a character letter defending his abuser, which was shown in Quiet on Set.
Throughout the entirety of Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV docuseries, one segment that really stood out for viewers was from Drake Bell.
Bell spoke publicly for the first time about his abuse at the hands of dialect coach Brian Peck and the court case that followed Peck’s arrest where Bell had been listed at as John Doe until now.
In Quiet on Set, it was revealed that a ton of famous actors had written character letters in Peck’s defense during the trial including James Marsden and Rieder Strong.
Naturally, many people were outraged that anyone would defend Peck’s actions, but Bell seems determined to put forgive and forget as he tweeted, “I just had the most amazing conversation with @RiderStrong we are all healing together. I have nothing but love and forgiveness for him.”
Bell’s willingness to forgive Strong came as a bit of a surprise to many as he called the Boy Meets World alum out in a now deleted Instagram comment.
“RIDER WAS 24 years old when he wrote the letter and was told by Brian what he did. He wrote the letter anyway,” Bell’s comment read.
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However, things may not be as black and white as many think when it comes to Strong’s motivations as the actor claimed he, along with Boy Meets World co-star Will Friedle, were mislead about what Peck was accused of.
“We weren’t told the whole story, but it doesn’t change the fact that we did it,” Friedle said during the Pod Meets World episode that aired ahead of Quiet on Set, “I still can’t get the words out to describe all of the things that I’m feeling inside of myself.”
Both Friedle and Strong met Peck after the coach guest starred on Boy Meets World and both men became close to him, to point where Strong admitted they hung out “all the time.”
The pair made it clear that Peck never divulged what actually happened with Bell, claiming to just be a “victim of jailbait,” but the pair soon realized how series things were when they appeared in court.
“We’re sitting in that courtroom on the wrong side of everything … The victim’s mother turned and said, ‘Look at all the famous people you brought with you. And it doesn’t change what you did to my kid,’” Friedle said, “I just sat there wanting to die. It was like, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ It was horrifying all the way around.”