Drake Bell Denies Abuse Allegations From Ex-Girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt

Jordan Moreau
·3 min read

Actor Drake Bell has denied allegations of abuse that arose in a video posted to TikTok from his ex-girlfriend, Melissa Lingafelt.

In the video, Lingafelt, who uses the stage name Jimi Ono on her TikTok account, alleged Wednesday that Bell verbally and physically abused her when they dated and lived together more than a decade ago.

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A representative for Bell gave the following statement to Variety, saying he never abused Lingafelt and is reviewing his legal options: “I never abused my ex-girlfriend or did so many of the other things Melissa falsely claimed on her TikTok video. 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.”

In her video Wednesday, Lingafelt said: “First, I would like to start out with saying I don’t really care if anyone believes me as this is my story and my life and something I went through. It wasn’t until recently that I actually realized that abuse is something that all women have to go through. When I started dating Drake, I was 16. I was home-schooled, I moved in with him, I was singing. It wasn’t until about a year when the verbal abuse started. And when I say verbal abuse, imagine the worst type of verbal abuse you could ever imagine, and that was what I got. It then turned into physical — hitting, throwing, everything. At the pinnacle of it, he drug me down the stairs of our house in Los Feliz. My face hit every step on the way down. 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 don’t event want to get into the underage girls thing. I mean I will, but I’m scared.”

In the video, Lingafelt shared several red carpet photos and home photos of herself and Bell. At the end, she also flipped through a photo album of them and showed a box of pictures.

 

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