“Boy Meets World” stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong discuss their past relationship with an actor who guest-starred on the series.
Friedle, Strong and co-star Danielle Fishel used Monday's episode of their rewatch podcast “Pod Meets World” to talk about their relationship with series replacement Brian Peck, who Fishel said appeared on the children's sitcom toward the end of the series.
The acting coach appeared in two credited episodes, as a background actor in Season 6 and as the character “Oookie” in Season 7.
“We knew this deserved a more detailed discussion, especially since as hosts we are still unpacking everything surrounding it and we know that the discourse on this topic has gained cultural momentum,” Fishel said.
According to a Los Angeles Police Department press release, Peck was arrested in August 2003 for lewd acts with a child. The arrest stemmed from an incident in 2001 in which the actor allegedly abused a child he was caring for over a six-month period. Fishel noted during the episode that Peck was subsequently “convicted and spent 16 months in prison.”
Although he was in his late 30s at the time of production, Friedle and Strong said Peck quickly became friends with the young actors.
“I didn’t go to parties. I actually didn't do that. But after 'Boy Meets World,' I was working a lot, and this guy had become so integrated into my life that I took him to three shows after 'Boy Meets World.' “Boy meets world,” Friedle said. “It was the kind of thing where the person he was introducing was a great, funny guy who was really good at his job and who you wanted to spend time with.”
Fishel, who said she did not develop a close relationship with Peck, speculated that Peck's status as an openly gay man may have contributed to the actor's behavior being overlooked at the time due to the “rampant” homophobia in the '90s.
“The other adults on set who maybe could have or should have said, 'Why are you going to lunch with this guy?' “Why is this guy going to Rider for a party?” There was probably a part of them that didn't say it because they were afraid it would be construed as homophobia, rather than saying, “That's a line, gay or not . “That’s a line between adults and children,” Fishel said. “And that's why I think it's important in Rider and Will's story why he became such close friends with you two.”
USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for Peck for comment.
Will Friedle and Rider Strong discuss Brian Peck's sexual misconduct
When Peck was arrested in 2003, Friedle and Strong said he portrayed his legal troubles as an incident in which he was victimized by the minor with whom he had sexual relations.
“He didn’t say nothing happened,” Strong said. “So when we heard about this case and knew something about it, it was always in the context of, 'I did this, I'm guilty. I will take whatever punishment the government decides, but it's me.' a victim of jailbait. There was this hot guy. I just did something like that and he’s underage.’ And we bought that storyline.
Friedle also recalled going to court to support Peck and other child stars the actor knew.
“We’re on the wrong side of this courtroom,” Friedle said. “The victim’s mother turned around and said, ‘Look at all the famous people you brought with you. And it doesn't change what you did to my child.' I just sat there and wanted to die. I asked myself, “What the hell am I doing here?” It was all around terrible.
“There is an actual victim here. And he turned us against the victim so that now we're on his team,” Friedle added, calling his support for Peck his “always loving shame.” “That's the thing I can't get over and haven't gotten over yet .”
Rider Strong remembers meeting Brian Peck years after the alleged grooming
Strong said he met Peck at a party about seven years ago and described the interaction as “one of the most intense experiences of my life.”
“It felt like an out-of-body experience where I was having a conversation with him, and I could finally hear the name-calling,” Strong said. “The story he told me was nonsense, but he let me know that he was with famous people who validated him and put him in the category of Hollywood royalty. He did that all the time when we were on the set of ''. “Boy Meets World,” and I never saw it because it was so effortless.
While Strong expressed concerns that his and Friedle's accounts could overshadow the show's legacy, Friedle stressed the importance of coming to terms with this part of his past.
“This has to do with me now, as a 47-year-old man and the person I have become, and it has affected me as a person,” Friedle said. “It in no way affects my memory of the show. In fact, for me, most of my memories of this person and this manipulation came after 'Boy.' So I think people will disconnect the two.”
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