Is all forgiven between Drake Bell and Rider Strong? It appears so!
As you know, the 37-year-old actor revealed in the docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV that he had been the unnamed child star who had accused convicted child molester Brian Peck of sexual assault in 2003. He publicly opened up for the first about the “extensive” and “brutal” abuse he faced at the hands of the former Nickelodeon dialogue coach at a young age. Truly harrowing stuff.
Related: Nickelodeon Host Marc Summers Says Quiet On Set Doc AMBUSHED & MISLED Him!
Amid the documentary, it came out that Rider and his Boy Meets World co-star Will Friedle had been among several stars who penned letters of support for Peck while asking a judge for leniency in the sexual abuse case. The pair expressed regret for their actions before Quiet on Set came out. Will and Rider claimed they were groomed and manipulated by Peck, seemingly explaining why they wrote the letters for Peck. While they sounded genuinely sorry, Drake did not buy it. He called them out on social media for supporting Peck, saying:
“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. Brian admitted it 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 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.”
He added in a comment about Rider:
“RIDER WAS 24 years old when he wrote the letter and was told by Brian what he did. He wrote the letter anyway.”
Oof. Weeks later, though, Drake and Rider seem to have made amends. The Amanda Show alum took to X (Twitter) on Friday to reveal he and the 44-year-old actor talked things out, saying:
“I just had the most amazing conversation with @RiderStrong. We are all healing together. I have nothing but love and forgiveness for him.”
I just had the most amazing conversation with @RiderStrong we are all healing together. I have nothing but love and forgiveness for him.
— DrakeBell.ethᵍᵐ (@DrakeBell) April 5, 2024
That is great to hear! We’re glad these two were able to come to some sort of understanding. Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments!
[Image via Investigation Discovery/YouTube, MEGA/WENN]
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