“Boy Meets World” actors Rider Strong and Will Friedle have alleged they were groomed by Brian Peck when he guest starred on the show.
The actors recalled their exposure to Peck during a conversation with family therapist Kati Morton during Monday’s episode of the iHeart podcast, “Pod Meets World.” Peck was convicted of sexually abusing an unnamed Nickelodeon child actor in 2004, just four years after the final episode of “Boy Meets World” aired.
Strong and Friedle said they were unaware of what was happening at the time, but that the situation seems clearer in hindsight.
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Strong and Friedle said they were initially unaware of the grooming and manipulation they experienced while working alongside Peck.
“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 said on the podcast.
He recalled the close bond he formed with Peck at the time.
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“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,” Friedle said.
He went on to note that they had a 20-year age gap between them.
Co-star Danielle Fishel recalled on the podcast that, unlike most “Boy Meets World” guest stars, Peck wanted to spend as much time as he could with the main cast.
She also blamed the adults on set for not looking out for the younger cast members and calling out this behavior.
“The other adults on set, who maybe could have or should have said, ‘Why are you guys going to lunch with this guy?’ ‘Why is this guy going to Rider’s house for a party?'” Fishel said.
Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images “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.”
Peck reached out to Strong and Friedle when he was accused of child sexual abuse in 2003, and asked them to support him in court. They obliged, but said they now regret their involvement. (RELATED: Prosecutors Charge Netflix Star’s Son With Child Porn Possession, Court Documents Say: REPORT)
“There’s an actual victim here. And he turned us against the victim to where now we’re on his team. That’s the thing where, to me, I look back at that as my ever-loving shame for this entire [thing],” Friedle said. “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.”