Dustin Diamond is opening up about his past destructive behavior, and took the time on The Dr. Oz Show to publicly apologize to his Saved by the Bell co-stars in an attempt to “make things right.”
During today’s episode of Oz, Diamond, who famously played Samuel “Screech” Powers on the ’90s sitcom, said, “Oddly enough, it’s doing interviews like this and getting the word out there. 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.” He continued, this time mentioning his former castmates Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Lark Voorhies, Tiffani Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley, “I will say, 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 original series ended in 1992, Diamond went on to star in spin-offs The College Years and The New Class, but when it all ended in 2000, he was left to fill the time with destructive behavior and habits. Most recently, he was arrested last May for violating his probation from when he was arrested for stabbing a man during a street brawl in 2014. He also published a tell-all book where he claimed his co-stars “were sleeping around with each other,” although Diamond claimed that he didn’t write the book himself, instead he had the help of a ghost writer.
Now, Diamond wants to refocus on moving forward with life happily and with good mind and body. He acknowledged his mistakes, and now realizes how much of an impact “Screech” had on people. “It was very touching to have fans that came up to me and I’ve had people multiple times come up to me, I mean, we’re talking hundreds and hundred — thousands of people that have come up and said, you got me through high school. You know, I was the Screech in my school and you represented everything that I felt at that time, which I never thought of when I was doing the show. When I was 11 through 21, I was just memorizing lines and trying to make the live audience laugh and the producers laugh and everything else. Trying to work with my cast mates and make the director happy and everything else. It was work for me. I didn’t think about the impact I had on the fan base until years later, until I got to meet them.”
Via People
