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Who is Melissa Lingafelt? Drake Bell denies ex-girlfriend's physical abuse allegations on viral TikTok video

A representative for Drake Bell, on behalf of the actor, said: 'I never abused my ex-girlfriend or did so many of the other things Melissa falsely claimed on her TikTok video.'
PUBLISHED AUG 13, 2020
Melissa Lingafelt and Drake Bell (Getty Images)
Melissa Lingafelt and Drake Bell (Getty Images)

Drake Bell, who rose to fame with Nickelodeon's 'The Amanda Show' and 'Drake & Josh', has denied allegations of physical and verbal abuse after a TikTok video from his ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt went viral on the Internet. In the video, Lingafelt — better known by her stage name Jimi Ono on her TikTok account — said that the 34-year-old verbally and physically abused her when they dated and lived together more than a decade ago.

In the one-minute 13-second video that went viral on Twitter, she shared a montage of pictures from when the two were together and 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.”



 

Detailing more about what really happened along with shots of her going through an old picture album, she added, “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. I don’t even want to get into the underage girls thing. I mean I will, but I’m scared.”

Denying all the allegations, a representative for Bell told Variety that he is reviewing his legal options and added on behalf of the actor: “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.”

Adding how she got in touch with him last year for financial support, he said, “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.”

Melissa Lingafelt and Drake Bell (Getty Images)

Now, with all the accusations and rumors on Twitter about her allegations, one question on everyone's minds is who is Melissa Lingafelt? As per her IMDb bio, she was born on December 20, 1989, and participated in Miss Teen USA 2006 in Palm Springs, California, against 50 other girls and was crowned Miss Teen North Carolina 2006, the first runner-up to Katie Blair of Montana.

With the highest votes for Miss Photogenic at the Miss Teen USA 2006 pageant, she also reportedly signed as a Ford Model with Robert Black Agenzy/AZ. She was also seen in Bell's video 'Drake Bell: I Know' and the 2008 comedy film 'College'. Meanwhile, Bell was the voice of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man in the animated series 'Ultimate Spider-Man'. He has a band named Drake 24/7.

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