Former Nickelodean star Drake Bell has been accused of physically and verbally abusing his ex-girlfriend.
Melissa Lingafelt, who goes by Jimi Ono, made the abuse claims in a TikTok video she published Wednesday, according to People magazine. Lingafelt and Bell first dated in 2006 for two years, the outlet reported.
Drake Bell has denied allegations from his ex-girlfriend claiming he physically abused her when they dated over a decade ago https://t.co/omOfn01H7G
— Variety (@Variety) August 13, 2020
“First off I’d like to start out by saying, I don’t really care if anyone believes me, as this is my story and my life, and something that I went through,” Lingafelt said. “It wasn’t until recently that I actually realized that abuse isn’t something that all women have to go through.” (RELATED: Jessica Simpson Reveals Details Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Addiction Struggle In New Book)
Drake Bell’s ex-girlfriend exposes him for alleged physical and verbal abuse in series of TikToks. Jimi Ono, who started dating Drake at 16, claims he allegedly dragged her down a set of stairs face down. She also claims he allegedly got with underage girls. More in thread. pic.twitter.com/2KWk1A3myG
— Def Noodles (@defnoodles) August 13, 2020
Lingafelt claimed she began dating Bell when she was 16 years old and being homeschooled.
“I moved in with him, I was singing. It wasn’t until about a year when the verbal abuse started,” she said. “And when I say verbal abuse, imagine the worst type of verbal abuse you could ever imagine, and that was what I got.”
“It then turned to physical — hitting, throwing, everything,” she added.
Bell denied the abuse claims in a statement made to the outlet.
Bell claimed he “never abused [his] ex-girlfriend or did so many of the other things Melissa falsely claimed on her TikTok video.”