'Boy Meets World' actors felt 'shame' over manipulative friendship with convicted child abuser
Will Friedle and Rider Strong discussed relationship with Brian Peck on 'Pod Meets World' podcast
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Will Friedle and Rider Strong addressed their complicated feelings toward "Boy Meets World" guest star Brian Peck during a recent episode of their podcast, "Pod Meets World."
Friedle, Strong and co-star Danielle Fishel decided to bring Peck's name to the table after being contacted for a statement about Peck, likely due to the upcoming "Quiet on Set" docuseries detailing child abuse that allegedly took place behind the scenes on several Nickelodeon shows.
Peck was accused of molesting a child in 2003 and was later charged with eight counts of sexual abuse. Peck was convicted of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under the age of 16 and spent 16 months in prison.
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Will Friedle, left, and Rider Strong, right, discussed the challenging emotions surrounding their friendship with convicted child abuser Brian Peck. (Getty Images)
"There's no way I could have been manipulated like this because I was an adult," Friedle said. "By the time I had heard what had happened, I had known this man for years and years, had no idea that any of this was going on, obviously, and the idea that now at 24 or whatever I was, 24 or 25 when I found out about it – that I didn't know, couldn't spot it – that was a failure of my own."
Peck, who was in his 40s at the time, only appeared in two episodes of the teenage sitcom – which ran from 1993-2000 on ABC – but quickly befriended both Friedle and Strong.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I was working a lot after ‘Boy Meets World,’ and this guy had so ingrained himself into my life, I took him to three shows after ‘Boy Meets World,’" Friedle said. "This was the type of thing where the person he presented was this great, funny guy who was really good at his job, and you wanted to hang out with."
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He added, "I saw him every day, hung out with him every day, talked to him every day."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brian Peck was convicted of a lewd act against a child and oral copulation of a person under 16 in 2003. He spent 16 months in prison. (Albert L. Ortega)
The cast speculated that Peck, a gay man, may have appeared harmless to adults due to his age and sexuality.
"There was probably a part of them that didn’t say it because they were afraid it was going to be taken as homophobia, instead of, ‘This is a boundary, gay or not. This is a boundary between adults and kids,’" Fishel said.
Long after the show had ended, Friedle remembered Peck had called him crying when the sexual abuse allegations surfaced. Friedle recalled Peck spinning the story to show how it was "clearly the fault of his victim."
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"My instinct initially was, ‘My friend, this can’t be. It’s gotta be the other person’s fault.’ The story makes complete sense the way that he’s saying it," he said.
Strong remembered Peck admitting to the crime, but spinning the assault so that it appeared as though Peck was the victim.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Rider Strong, left, and Will Friedle starred on "Boy Meets World" from 1993-2000. (Ron Gallela)
"It was always in the context of, ‘I did this thing, I am guilty. I am going to take whatever punishment the government determines, but I’m a victim of jailbait. There was this hot guy. I just did this thing and he’s underage.’ And we bought that storyline," Strong said.
Peck also asked Strong and Friedle to stand by him in court and write letters to the judge in support of Peck. Friedle remembered one victim's mother telling the court, "Look at all the famous people you brought with you. And it doesn’t change what you did to my kid."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Strong ran into Peck at a party about seven years ago and felt "freaked the f--- out" when Peck began talking to him like they were old friends.
Friedle has not seen Peck in 20 years, but still has remorse for what he experienced as a bystander in Peck's life.
Will Friedle, left, starred as Eric Matthews on "Boy Meets World" alongside, from left to right, Ben Savage, Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Matthew Lawrence. (Craig Sjodin)
"There’s an actual victim here. And he turned us against the victim to where now we’re on his team," Strong said. "That’s the thing where, to me, I look back at that as my ever-loving shame for this entire [thing]. Getting taken in by somebody who’s a good actor and a manipulator, I could chalk that up to being young and that’s the way it is. It’s awful.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I’m going to use that for my growth as a human being, but when there’s an actual victim involved, and now I’m on the abuser’s side, that’s the thing I can’t get over and haven’t been able to get over."
The podcast ended with a note about hope for continued conversations and support for victims of manipulation and child grooming.