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“Boy Meets World” actors Rider Strong and Will Friedle revealed the alleged manipulation and grooming of guest star Brian Peck that they claim they experienced during and after their time on the iconic sitcom.
The men, along with former co-star Danielle Fishel, discussed “the difficult topics of grooming, childhood sexual abuse and its effects on victims” with family therapist Kati Morton on “Pod meets the world” according to the official description of the latest episode of the iHeart podcast.
Four years after “Boy Meets World” ended, Peck, now 63, was convicted of sexually abusing an unknown Nickelodeon child actor in 2004. He later served 16 months behind bars after being charged with eight counts of sexual abuse.
Their crimes are expected to be explored in the upcoming ID documentary series, “Quiet on Set,” which uncovers the alleged abuse of children working in show business in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
However, before Peck’s misdeeds came to light, he allegedly infiltrated the lives of the “Boy Meets World” stars, inappropriately, during and after his appearance on the show in season 5, which It aired from October 1997 to May 1998.
“I didn’t really go to parties. I didn’t really do those things. But I worked a lot after ‘Boy Meets World,’ and this guy had ingratiated himself so much into my life that I took him to three shows after ‘Boy Meets World,'” said Friedle, 47, recalling the close relationship they eventually had. . developed with Peck.
“This was the kind of thing where the person hosting was a cool, fun guy who was really good at his job, who you wanted to hang out with… I saw him every day, I hung out with him every day. , spoke with him. every day.”
Strong, 44, said he and Peck eventually dated “all the time,” despite a 20-year age difference.
Fishel, 42, for her part, recalled that Peck wanted to spend as much time as possible with the main cast, which she said was unlike most of the “Boy Meets World” guest stars.
“The other adults on set, who maybe could or should have said, ‘Why are you going to lunch with this guy?’ ‘Why is this guy going to Rider’s house for a party?’” she said, assuming the adults involved were hesitant to say anything because Peck is gay and they didn’t want to be seen as homophobic.
“There was probably a part of them that didn’t say it because they were afraid it would be taken as homophobia, rather than ‘This is a boundary, whether he’s gay or not.’ This is a boundary between adults and children.’”
Fishel clarified that none of the young cast members cared about Peck’s sexuality, although he acknowledged elsewhere that he seemed to have a greater interest in male stars.
“I also think that’s important in Rider and Will’s story, about why he became such good friends with you two,” he said.
“And I had lunch with him a couple of times, but only because someone else invited me… He didn’t really make any effort to get to know me. He was not so ingratiated with my life. “I never heard from him again after the show ended.”
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When Peck was accused of child sexual abuse in 2003, he asked Friedle and Strong to support him in court, to which they agreed. Friedle felt that he owed a lot to Peck, as the latter helped him get a film gig when he was skipping auditions due to debilitating anxiety.
“We’re sitting in that courtroom on the wrong side of everything… The victim’s mother turned around and said, ‘Look at all the famous people you brought with you. And that doesn’t change what you did to my son,’” Friedle said.
“I sat there wanting to die. It was like, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ It was horrible in every way.”
Still, they wrote letters to the judge defending Peck’s character.
“They didn’t tell us the whole story, but that doesn’t change the fact that we did it,” Friedle said. “I still can’t find the words to describe all the things I feel inside of me.”
Strong said he ran into Peck about seven years ago at an industry party, an encounter that left him bewildered.
“The story he was telling me was nonsense, but what he was letting me know was that he was with famous people who validated him and put him in a category of Hollywood royalty,” he said, describing Peck as a teller. serial names.
“He did it constantly when we were on the set of ‘Boy Meets World’ and I never saw it because it was so simple. “Here I was like at this party and I had to leave, I was so scared.”
Friedle hasn’t seen Peck in about two decades, but he’s still processing the regret he feels for defending the sex offender against his victim.
“There is a real victim here. And he turned us against the victim to where we are now on his team. That is what, for me, I remember as my eternal, loving shame for all of this,” she said.
“Being fooled by someone who is a good actor and a manipulator, I could attribute it to being young and that’s just how it is. It is awful. I’m going to use that for my growth as a human being, but when there’s a real victim involved and now I’m on the abuser’s side, that’s what I can’t get over and haven’t been able to get over. .”
A representative for Peck did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment.
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