Actor Drake Bell has denied allegations of abuse that arose in a video posted to TikTok by his ex-girlfriend, Melissa Lingafelt.
In the video, Lingafelt, who uses the stage name Jimi Ono on her TikTok account, claimed on Wednesday that Bell abused her verbally and physically when they dated and lived together more than a decade ago.
A representative for Bell made the following statement Variation, saying he never abused Lingafelt and controls his legal options: ‘I’ve never abused my ex-girlfriend or done so many of the other things that Melissa falsely claimed on her TikTok video. When our relationship ended – more than a decade ago – we unfortunately called each other terrible names, as often happens when couples break up. But that’s it. Clearly, Melissa last year still felt close enough to me that she reached out comfortably to ask me to give her financial support in a difficult time (which I did). I do not know if the behavior of today’s has started some sort of wrong after more money than attention. But I can and will not allow these offensive and defamatory accusations to run unintentionally and I check my legal options. ”
In her video on Wednesday, Lingafelt said: “First I want to start by saying that I do not really care if anyone believes me, because this is my story and my life and what I went through. It wasn’t until recently that I actually realized that abuse is something that all women should go through. When I started being with Drake, I was 16. I was home at school, I moved in with him, I sang. It was only until about a year ago that the verbal abuse began. And when I say verbal abuse, think of the worst type of verbal abuse you could ever imagine, and that’s what I got. It then changed into physical – hitting, throwing, everything. At the height of it, he cared for me down the stairs of our house in Los Feliz. My face hit every step of the way. I have photos of this. ”
Bell, 34, is best known for his work on the Nickelodeon shows “The Amanda Show” and “Drake & Josh.”
Lingafelt also said: ‘I do not want any incident in the case of underage girls. I mean I will, but I’m scared. ‘
In the video, Lingafelt shared several red carpet photos and home photos of herself and Bell. In the end, she also blew through a photo album of her and showed a box of photos.
