For several years, Brian Peck was an in-demand acting coach whose work enabled him to befriend several big-name stars.
These days, he’s a convicted sex offender who spent 16 months in prison on child molestation charges.
Now, three actors who knew Peck in their youth are trying to reconcile the man they knew with the monster he later revealed himself to be.
And it all comes on the heels of a shocking new documentary set to release this year.
Brian Peck On ‘Boy Meets World’
Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, and Rider Strong were three of the main stars of the sitcom Boy Meets World, which ran from 1993-2000 on ABC.
These days, the longtime friends host the rewatch podcast “Pod Meets World,” which usually features lighthearted banter about fond memories from the set.
The latest episode was a radical departure from that formula, however, as the hosts discussed the first of two episodes in which Peck played minor roles.
“We knew this deserved a more detailed discussion, especially even since we as hosts are still unpacking everything involved, and we know the discourse around this subject has culturally ramped up,” Fishel said on the podcast.
Who Is Brian Peck? How Did He Know the ‘Boy Meets World’ Cast?
According to Friedle, Peck was a charismatic thirtysomething when he worked on Boy Meets World, and the teen stars thought nothing of the fact that he went out of his way to befriend them.
“I didn’t 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.
“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.”
Strong explained that due to their friendship with Peck, he and Friedle were reluctant to believe the worst about him and were quick to make excuses for his actions.
“He didn’t say that nothing had happened,” Strong said.
“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,” the actor added.
“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.”
Strong and Friedle say that they now grasp the severity of Peck’s crimes, and they regret their previous decision to defend him.
Another ‘Boy Meets World’ Controversy
Sadly, this is not the first time that the Boy Meets World cast has been forced to address painful memories from their time on the show.
In 2022, Fishel revealed that she had been harassed and bullied by the sitcom’s creator, Michael Jacobs when she was just 12 years old.
And in 2019, former series star Maitland Ward launched a career in adult film and endured a barrage of abuse from fans of the show.
For the most part, the actors who gained fame on Boy Meets World have fared better than most child stars.
But clearly, they were forced to endure some painful challenges along the way.
Brian Peck, Nickelodeon, and ‘Quiet On Set’ Documentary
The catalyst for this conversation may be the upcoming bombshells that will are poised to drop on March 17.
That’s when the four-part Investigation Discover’s forthcoming docuseries Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV premieres.
The show will dive into Nickelodeon‘s complicated legacy, taking a specific focus on Dan Schneider’s reign at the network and the accusations of abuse and discrimination against child actors on the set of the network’s most popular shows.
In the trailer for the series, Peck’s name is mentioned. In fact, the time he spent in prison was for two counts of abusing a Nickelodeon child actor.
It is expected that the young actor in question will reveal their story in due course.
Brian Peck: Who Is Convicted Sex Offender Friends With ‘Boy Meets World’ … was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.