‘Boy Meets World’ Stars Will Friedle And Rider Strong Accuse Guest Star Brian Peck Of Manipulation In Sexual Abuse Case: “It Was Horrifying”

Boy Meets World stars Will Friedle, Rider Strong and Danielle Fishel peeled back the curtain on their former guest star Brian Peck, who was convicted of sexually abusing a Nickelodeon child actor in 2004.

On the latest episode of their Pod Meets World podcast, the trio welcomed family therapist Kati Morton to discuss “the difficult subjects of grooming, childhood sexual abuse and their effects on victims,” per the description. The conversation comes ahead of ID’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV documentary, which explores the alleged abuse on Nickelodeon sets in the early aughts.

Before Peck was charged with eight counts of sexual abuse and thrown in jail for 16 months, he appeared on two episodes of Boy Meets World in Season 5. Despite being 20 years older than the main cast and only working as a stand-in, he embedded himself into their lives — specifically those of Friedle and Strong.

“I didn’t really go to parties. I didn’t really do that stuff. But I was working a lot after Boy Meets World, and this guy had so ingratiated himself into my life, I took him to three shows after Boy Meets World,” Friedle recalled. “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 … I saw him every day, hung out with him every day, talked to him every day.”

Fishel — who said Peck “didn’t really make an effort” to spend time with her — speculated that other adults didn’t step in because Peck is gay and they didn’t want to be viewed as homophobic.

“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 about adults and kids,'” she said. “I also think that’s important in the story of Rider and Will, about why he befriended the two of you so closely.”

When Peck was first hit with the allegations of sexual abuse, he allegedly called Friedle in tears and claimed it was the victim’s fault for coming onto him.

“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,'” Friedle remembered thinking at the time.

According to Strong, Peck allegedly told them he was a “victim of jailbait” — and they believed him.

“He didn’t say that nothing had happened,” Strong explained. “So by the time we heard about this case and knew anything about it, 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.”

After Peck reportedly asked the two actors to support him in court, they also decided to write letters defending his character.

“We’re sitting in that courtroom on the wrong side of everything,” Friedle recalled. “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.'”

He added, “I just sat there wanting to die. It was like, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ It was horrifying all the way around.”

While Friedle hasn’t seen Peck in two decades, he said he still regrets standing up for “the abuser’s side.”

“There’s an actual victim here. And he turned us against the victim to where now we’re on his team,” he said. “That’s the thing where, to me, I look back at that as my ever-loving shame for this entire [thing].”

Friedle continued, “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. 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.”

Decider has reached out to reps for Peck, but did not hear back by the time of publication.

If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.