Overview

Drake Bell Abuse Allegations refers to a series of viral videos published to TikTok by Drake Bell's, of Drake and Josh, ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt where she accuses Bell of emotionally and physically abusing her during their relationship. The videos, posted in mid-August 2020, went viral on TikTok and Twitter within a few hours and caused Drake Bell to release a statement denying the abuse.

Background

On August 12th, 2020, TikToker jimiono, Drake Bell's ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt, posted a video describing the abuse she experienced while in a relationship with Drake Bell. The video captioned, "This is my truth. I hope this message reaches young girls, and that no one has to go through what I did. #2020survivor" garnered over 1.1 million likes in a day (shown below, left). That same night, she continued to post responses from various viewers claiming to also have known of Bell's abusive nature (shown below, right).

Developments

On August 12th, 2020, Twitter user @glossywife reposted Lingafelt's original video captioning it "Drake Bell is a piece of sh’t" (shown, below). The video received over 920,700 view and 8,600 likes in a day. People Magazine^[1] published a Drake Bell's statement:

"As our relationship ended -- more than a decade ago -- we, unfortunately, both called each other terrible names, as often happens when couples are breaking up. But that is it. Clearly, Melissa still felt close enough to me just last year that she was comfortable reaching out to ask me to provide her with financial support during a tough time (which I did) […] I do not know if today’s behavior is some kind of misguided quest for more money or attention, but I cannot and will not allow these offensive and defamatory allegations to go unchallenged and I am reviewing my legal options."

That same day, Twitter user @joshuachenault1^[4] posted a confused reaction image captioned, "People are questioning Drake Bell’s accuser like its unfathomable that he is capable of abuse. Don’t act like the man is stable" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 1,700 likes in a day. The next morning, Twitter user @real_ish_fr^[5] posted a reaction image that responded to the lack of evidence (shown below, right). The Daily Dot^[2] and Variety^[3] published articles about the controversy.

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