Dustin Diamond Apologizes to His “Saved By the Bell” Co-Stars for Tell-All Book

Getty Images/Noel Vasquez(NEW YORK) — After weathering scandals, including serving three months in a Wisconsin jail for allegedly stabbing a man during a bar brawl in 2014, Dustin Diamond is working to repair his public image and his relationship with his former Saved by the Bell co-stars.

The 39-year-old actor, who played Samuel “Screech” Powers on the beloved 1990s sitcom, appeared on Thursday’s The Dr. Oz Show, to apologize.

“Oddly enough, it’s doing interviews … is my best weapon for repairing the damage that was caused by … people who took advantage of me…” he explained to Dr. Mehmet Oz, before turning to the camera to apologize to his former co-stars.

“I will say, guys…I’m sorry that this has taken advantage of me, the book and other situations…” he said. “But I’m sure that you’ve experienced downfalls, as well, in your time and I’m still loving you guys.”

After starring alongside Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez, Lark Voorhies, Tiffani Thiessen, and Elizabeth Berkley. In 2009, he wrote a tell-all book in which he claimed his co-stars were having sex with each other and using drugs on the set.

“I didn’t write the book. I had a ghostwriter,” Diamond insisted to Dr. Oz. 

But the damage to his relationships with his former cast mates had already been done.

“I hadn’t talked to most of the cast mates in a long time,” Diamond said on the show. “Mario Lopez and I speak frequently and Dennis Haskins and I speak frequently.

Mark Paul I haven’t seen since I was 16 years old, so I feel terrible for it but what can I do? Unfortunately, being in the entertainment industry, you get fleeced a lot and you get taken advantage of a lot…”

His fans have become a priority.

“Thousands of people have come up and said, ‘you got me through high school.’ You know, ‘I was the Screech in my school…’ which I never thought of when I was doing the show,” he told Dr. Oz. 

“I didn’t think about the impact I had on the fan base until years later, until I got to meet them.”

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