‘Boy Meets World’ Star Will Friedle Regrets Supporting Brian Peck in Child Sexual Assault Case: ‘I Just Sat There Wanting to Die’
“Boy Meets World” star Will Friedle revealed his shame for defending Brian Peck in a child sexual assault case, admitting he hasn’t been able to get over his part in supporting the actor who guest starred in the show’s fifth season.
Peck was arrested in 2003 — over five years after appearing on the show — for lewd acts with a minor. After developing a friendship with the show’s child stars, Peck, who was 43 at the time, asked Friedle and costar Rider Strong to support him in court, which they did. The pair also wrote letters to the judge supporting Peck.
“There’s an actual victim here, and [Peck] 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-living shame for this entire [thing],” Friedle said on Monday’s episode of the “Pod Meets World” podcast alongside cohosts Strong and Danielle Fishel, their fellow costar.
While Friedle noted getting manipulated by Peck could be chalked up to “being young,” he admitted his struggle to reckon with his support of Peck “when there’s an actual victim involved,” saying “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.”
Following Peck’s arrest, he shared what he said was his side of the story with Friedle and Strong. Peck called the victim “jailbait,” leaving out additional charges related to the incident, according to the pair.
“I never heard about the other things because, back then, you couldn’t Google to find out what people were being charged with,” Strong said. “So in retrospect, he was making a plea deal and admitting one thing — which is all he admitted to us — but it looks like he was being charged with a series of crimes, which we did not know.”
By the time Peck’s case made it to the courtroom, Friedle and Strong recalled being “on the wrong side” of the courtroom surrounded by other child actors.
“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,’” Friedle said. “I just sat there wanting to die. It was like, ‘What the hell am I doing here?’ It was horrifying all the way around.”
Peck was ultimately convicted of sexually abusing a minor and went on to serve a 16-month prison sentence.
Earlier in the episode, the cast members recalled their experiences on set with Peck, which differed from other stand-ins despite Peck being 20 years older than the child actors. Fishel noted Peck was “personable” and “charming” as he ingratiated himself with Friedle and Strong by referencing big Hollywood names, which soon lead to spending time together outside of work.
“He didn’t really make an effort to get to know me,” Fishel said. “He didn’t ingratiate himself as much into my life. I never heard from him again after the show ended.”
Strong admitted he felt “uncomfortable” discussing the details on the podcast, noting that he doesn’t want what happened to color the “cultural memory” of the show, Friedle predicted viewers will “disconnect” the show with the incident related to Peck.
“This has to do with me now, as a 47-year-old man, and the person I’ve become, and this affected me as a person. It didn’t affect the show in any way, shape or form,” Friedle said. “It doesn’t affect my memory of the show in any way, shape or form.”
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