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Drake Bell is putting Will Friedle and Rider Strong on blast for their prior defense of sex offender Brian Peck … slamming them for what he claims is a lack of an apology.
The former Nickelodeon star — who recently came forward with sexual abuse allegations against his ex-dialogue coach — called out the “Boy Meets World” alums on Instagram Thursday as fans began suggesting Will and Rider were victims too in all this.
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While some defended that Will and Rider were manipulated by Brian into defending him –remember, they’d each written letters on Peck’s behalf in his criminal case from 2004 — Drake wasn’t ready to let them off the hook.
As Drake put it … Will and Rider weren’t minors at the time of the case. Apparently, the two TV stars were 27 and 24 when this all happened … and DB claims Brian even told them what he had done when he was enlisting their help.
Drake also alleged Will never said a word about the letter he wrote for Brian when they worked together on the Disney XD show, “Ultimate Spider-Man,” years later.
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Drake alleged that Will and Rider’s recent comments about the situation on their podcast were just their way of trying to get ahead of the story. He added … “Everyone thought the letters would be sealed forever and no one would ever see them.”
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Will and Rider paint a different picture, of course … previously claiming on a February episode of “Pod Meets World” that they regretted their involvement in the case. They claimed that they didn’t know the full extent of the allegations made against Brian — which included performing a lewd act with a 14 or 15-year-old and oral copulation with a minor under 16.
Brian was eventually sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender.