Scott DeVaney, a production assistant on Saved by the Bell: The New Class, alleges that Dustin Diamond threatened one of his costars with a knife while filming promo for the spinoff.
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DeVaney, Dustin's father Mark Diamond, and Saved by the Bell cast member Ed Alonzo all speak to Dustin's erratic mental state at the time on the new episode of ID's Hollywood Demons.
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"Eventually it ends up, Dustin didn't try to strike him with the knife," DeVaney claims. "It ends up with him in tears, and he runs off."
A lot went on behind the scenes ofSaved by the Bellthat would shock fans of the beloved teen sitcom. And apparently, even more happened when the cameras weren't rolling on its spinoff,Saved by the Bell: The New Class.
"I was there when Screech,Dustin Diamond, returned to that fold. To be honest, it was pretty bananas from the jump," according to Scott DeVaney, a production assistant on the spinoff. DeVaney and several others involved with the series, its famous predecessor, that classic's obscure progenitor,Good Morning, Miss Bliss, and more opened up about dark goings-on that haunted each production on "After the Bell," the latest episode of Investigation Discovery'sHollywood Demons.
"You'd walk in the dressing room and immediately it was a little odd. He had pictures of knives and guns in his dressing room," DeVaney claimed on the episode, which premiered on Monday. But according to the former PA, Diamond's attachment to such weapons ran even deeper.
"He came off the big hit,Saved by the Bell, but he's still an insecure teenager at the time, and he comes in wanting to present, 'I'm the big boss. I've got the gravitas. I'm really the star of this show,'" DeVaney speculated. "I saw him treat a lot of people poorly, to be clear."
Saved by the Bell: The New Classimmediately followedSaved by the Bell's bow in 1993 and ran for seven seasons. Diamond was the only original cast member to return, and was joined by an ensemble that included Isaac Lidsky, Bianca Lawson, Dennis Haskins, Sarah Lancaster, and Jonathan Angel. DeVaney recalled one particular promo shoot where "there was an argument between Dustin Diamond and a cast member. I cant remember what started it exactly, but here's Dustin Diamond saying, 'I could have you fired!'"
Things escalated quickly, according to DeVaney. "It led to Dustin pulling out a butterfly knife. It was a very physically threatening thing. So everybody's trying to say, 'Back off, everybody cool down.' Eventually it ends up, Dustin didn't try to strike him with the knife. It ends up with him in tears, and he runs off."
Two important Marks in Diamond's life were able to provide context to the shocking allegation. Mark Bridge, Diamond's childhood friend, recalled that "Dustin did like to carry a pocket knife. We were friends from before he was on a national stage, and he liked the Chinese stars, the samurai swords, the knives."
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Mark Diamond, Dustin's father, explained that Dustin had already endured a considerable amount of hardship in his young life, but at that particular time, he was facing something even worse.
"They told me that there was something that happened on the set, and Dustin threatened somebody. I went to a taping [the] next week, and we sat down and talked to him," Mark shared. "A lot of people don't realize he was dealing with hard things. He'd already lost his brother. Now, Dustin's mother, she had been diagnosed with cancer, and she went downhill pretty quickly, and Dustin saw all that happening."
Indeed, Dustin lost his mother, Jaimee Diamond, in 1996. He was 19 at the time, and when he was only six, he lost his older brother Ryan, who was born with Down syndrome and a congenital heart disease.
Though Dustin's family and friends remember him taking to the role of Samuel "Screech" Powers with glee, the consequence of spending his entire childhood and adolesence on studio sets meant that "he missed out going to proms, to the football games on the weekend, and so he was never able to branch out and make friends in the real world," said Ed Alonzo, Dustin'sSaved by the Bellcastmate.
Later in his life, Dustinpublicly apologizedfor his on-set behavior — not to hisNew Classcostars, but to his originalSaved by the Bellcostars — after a memoir he claimed was ghostwritten without his participation alleged all manner of torrid intra-cast behavior behind the scenes.
"This is my best weapon for repairing the damage that was caused by things that were done by people who took advantage of me and the situation I was in at the time," Dustin, who died in 2021, shared in a 2016 interview. "Guys, I think you're fantastic, working with you has been just one of the icons of my life and I'm sorry that this has taken advantage of me — the book and other situations I'm sure we'll talk about here. But I'm sure that you've experienced downfalls, as well, in your time and I'm still loving you guys."
"After the Bell" premiered Monday, May 4 on ID. New episodes ofHollywood Demonspremiere weekly, with episodes available to stream on HBO Max.
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