Saved by the Bell's Dustin Diamond Pulled a Knife on Spinoff Costar, Claims Crewman

Saved by the Bell star Dustin Diamond is at the center of a shocking claim resurfacing years after his time on the beloved franchise.

In a recent episode of Hollywood Demons titled “After the Bell,” a former crew member alleged that Diamond once pulled a knife during a heated moment on set. Scott DeVaney, a production assistant on Saved by the Bell: The New Class back in 1993, recalled that tensions escalated quickly between Diamond and another cast member.

“I cant remember what started it exactly, but here's Dustin Diamond saying, 'I could have you fired!'" DeVaney shared.

"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,” he added.

At the time, Diamond was the only original cast member to return for the spinoff, joining a new ensemble that included Isaac Lidsky, Bianca Lawson, Dennis Haskins, Sarah Lancaster and Jonathan Angel.

According to DeVaney, things felt off from the start once Diamond came back to the set.

"I was there when Screech, Dustin Diamond, returned to that fold. To be honest, it was pretty bananas from the jump," he said.

"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," he continued. "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. I saw him treat a lot of people poorly, to be clear."

Another voice close to Diamond also weighed in. His childhood friend, Mark Bridge, claimed the actor had long been fascinated with weapons.

"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,” Bridge said.

Meanwhile, Diamond’s father, Mark Diamond, offered some context behind his son’s behavior during that time.

"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," he explained. "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."

Dustin faced heartbreaking losses early in life. He lost his older brother Ryan at a young age and later his mother, Jaimee Diamond, in 1996 when he was just 19.

The actor died in 2021 after battling stage 4 small-cell carcinoma. Despite the controversy that followed him over the years, some of his former costars remember him in a very different light.

Lark Voorhies, who played Lisa Turtle, also reflected on his passing.

"When he died of cancer, that hurt. Even with Dustin gone, we still carried it on, in the name of Saved by the Bell, Peter Engel, all of the writers and producers, and Dustin. When we all got to celebrate him, I'm glad we got that on footage, because he matters,” she shared during the episode.

Lark was a standout on the show, earning six Young Artist Award nominations and winning in both 1990 and 1993.