“Saved by the Bell” crew member claims Dustin Diamond pulled a knife on spinoff costar

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.

Key Points

• 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.

• "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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May 06, 2026

“Saved by the Bell” crew member claims Dustin Diamond pulled a knife on spinoff costar

Scott DeVaney, a production assistant on Saved by the Bell: The New Class , alleges that Dustin Diamond threatened one of his costars w...

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Charlize Theron won't be giving her kids a free ride through life: 'They just need to get a job that pays them’

Charlize Theron doesn't want to give her kids a free ride through life.

Key Points

• The Apex star and mother of two shared that she wants her kids to "earn it" when it comes to big purchases like their first cars.

• She added that as adults, they'll need to get "a job that pays," because she won't be taking care of all the bills.

Charlize Theronwon't be giving her kids a free ride through life — or a free sports car, for that matter.

TheApexactress plans to instill a strong work ethic into her kids, especially once they hit young adulthood, Theron shared during a candid conversation withTherapusshost Jake Shane.

"First of all, your first car is going to be a Datsun, because you’re going to crash it," Theron told Shane, referencing daughters Jackson, 14, and August, 11. "You’re going to f--- it up somehow. You’re a new driver. So, we’re not getting, like, the nice car up front."

She added, "We need a little bit of experience, and we’re going to earn it."

When Shane asked if her kids would have to worry about getting summer jobs as teenagers, Theron didn't hesitate to confirm.

"Yeah. Every time we go to Starbucks, I’m like, 'Look at this … Do you see how friendly? You have to be that friendly every morning at 6 a.m. Start getting ready for it,'" Theron joked.

Theron, who adopted Jackson in 2012 and August in 2015 explained that while the kids are still years away from worrying about that, she wants to instill self-sufficiency from a young age, so they'll be able to take care of themselves through adulthood.

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"It’s too soon to kind of say where they’re going to end up," Theron said. "They just need to get a job that pays them, because I don’t want to support them for the rest of life."

The mother of two has long been candid about her approach to parenting and her decision to adopt two children to raise as a single mother. During a sit-down withCall Her Daddyhost Alex Cooper last year, Theron called the choice "one of the healthiest decisions I ever made."

She explained, "With women, it's always like, something must be wrong with her. She can't keep a man, and it's never part of the discussion of like, 'Wow. She's really living her truth.' I look at them and just be like, 'Do you know how f------ great it is to live exactly how I want to live, to experience motherhood exactly how I wanted to experience it?'"

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Theron noted that she has enjoyed the freedom that comes with being a single woman in her 40s, especially when it comes to raising kids without the challenges presented by coparenting.

"I know the next thing they say is like, 'Well, that's not fair on your kids.' Can I tell you something? That will be their story to tell," she continued. "I can only tell you that this is the best way that I know how to be a mother to them, and maybe they'll grow up and tell their story, and I will respect that. I just know that this was the only way that I knew I could do it, and my f------ god do I love every single day of it. I love that I don't have to share them with somebody."

She added, "I love that I don't have to run every f------ thing by a guy."

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May 05, 2026

Charlize Theron won't be giving her kids a free ride through life: 'They just need to get a job that pays them’

Charlize Theron doesn't want to give her kids a free ride through life. Key Points The Apex star and mother o...

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Fewer AAPI adults report hate incidents but racism concerns linger, new poll shows

Fewer Asian American and Pacific Islander adults are reporting overt anti-Asian attacks than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, anew AP-NORC/AAPI Data pollfinds, but many still worry about racial discrimination.

A new poll out Monday, asAAPI Heritage Monthbegins, fromAAPI Dataand TheAssociated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Researchfinds that about one-quarter of AAPI adults have personally experienced a hate crime or incident in the past year, such as verbal harassment or physical assault. That's consistent with a survey conducted last summer, but down from anOctober 2023 pollwhere 36% said they were victims of an act of abuse tied to their race or ethnicity over the prior year.

PreliminaryFBI data also reflects a declineas the pandemic receded into the background. Based on information submitted by law enforcement agencies, anti-Asian hate crimes and bias crimes overall fell between 2024 and 2025.

However, about 3 in 10 AAPI adults in the new survey think it’s “extremely" or "very” likely that they’ll be a victim of discrimination based on their race or ethnicity in the next five years.

“The key is there's been a decline but a stabilization. So, it hasn't declined since last year, ” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director ofAAPI Data. “Both hate crimes and hate incidents are still an issue in our community.”

Racial discrimination and rhetoric amplified in anti-immigrant climate

The poll finds that fewer AAPI adults report experiencing verbal assaults compared to the survey from two years ago.

About 1 in 10 say they have been called a racial or ethnic slur in the past 12 months, down from roughly 2 in 10 in October 2023. Around 15% say they have been verbally harassed or abused by another person in the past year because of their race or ethnicity, down from 23% in 2023.

Advocates report that the tone of the rhetoric has shifted away from COVID-19-related tropes toward anti-immigrant sentiments.

“We're seeing things like ‘Go back to China’ still. But, it's more like ‘ICE is going to deport you,'” said Stephanie Chan, data and research director at Stop AAPI Hate. “The rhetoric that’s being used to justify very harsh and aggressive immigration enforcement, all of this is also feeding into anti-AAPI hate persisting.”

Being made to feel like a foreigner is something Ambar Capoor, 52 and India-born, has encountered even in his diverse Los Angeles neighborhood. Last year, while waiting in line at a restaurant, a white man pushed him unprovoked to get to the front.

Capoor said the man told him: “You don’t belong here. You should go back to your country."

Capoor, who is a naturalized citizen and has lived in the U.S. for 26 years, tries to shrug off these racist interactions.

“None of this stuff normally bothers me,” he said. “If somebody starts an altercation, that I’ll walk away from.”

But Capoor, a Democrat, thinks the divisive political climate has emboldened people to openly say racist things.

Nosheen Hamid, 36 and a stay-at-home mother with a toddler, has lived in Salt Lake City since 2009. In her native Pakistan, her family was considered a minority because of their Catholic faith. In her community in Utah, which is mostly white, she says she gets racially profiled, too.

A couple of months ago, a door-to-door salesman approached her home and seemed surprised she lived there.

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“He was like, ‘Are you renting here?’ He asked me a few times and it got to me for just a second,” Hamid said. “People didn't expect me to be in the space that I was, work-wise, school-wise.”

Dealing with discrimination and economic stress

Withinflation and higher gas pricesas the Iran war continues, AAPI adults are much more preoccupied with economic concerns than discrimination. Around 4 in 10 say personal finances are a “major source" of stress. And about 2 in 10 say the same thing about health concerns and relationships with family or friends. In contrast, only about 1 in 10 say discrimination is currently a major source of stress in their lives. Around half don't see discrimination as a source of stress at all.

John Magner, 58, is half white and also of Hawaiian and Chinese ancestry. He says he actually faces more discrimination from Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders around his home of West Jordan, Utah, who don't believe he is part Hawaiian. The state is home to around 60,000 Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, according to U.S. census data.

Last year, a Pacific Islander customer at the hardware store where Magner works called him "cracker and a little wannabe Pacific Islander.”

But he doesn't dwell on those interactions. He is more focused on juggling family expenses, working and getting a master’s degree in counseling.

“I work full-time but we’re struggling,” Magner said. “Inflation and then also some family stuff that's gone on, having to pay medical bills. It's just bills.”

Ramakrishnan, from AAPI Data, also considers whether there is less scapegoating of immigrants of color because people understand that it has no bearing on the current economy.

“The likely reasons for those economic struggles have nothing to do with race or immigration,” he said. “They have to do with other factors, like tariffs, war on foreign policy, AI data centers. Those are all the things that people see that are driving up costs.”

Rise in hate incidents within some Asian groups

Hate crimes and incidents are often underreported, and experts note that some groups under the AAPI umbrella may be experiencing incidents at a higher rate than others.

"If you look at it in the longer term, (hate incidents) are still really high compared to what it was like pre-pandemic, Chan said, referring to the FBI data.

There has recently been a rise in incidents among South Asians, according to FBI data and Stop AAPI Hate. The largest spikes tend to occur “in moments of South Asian visibility,” such as New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s election, Chan said.

Between the current political climate and being Indian, Capoor has been carrying his U.S. passport card on a lanyard for the past six months.

“After seeing all the reports of actual white folk getting arrested and thrown into camps and taking them like three days to get out of it,” Capoor said. “I don’t have friends in high places. I don’t have the correct skin color.”

The poll of 1,228 U.S. adults who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders was conducted March 23-30, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based Amplify AAPI Panel, designed to be representative of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

This poll is part of an ongoing project exploring the views of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, which are usually not highlighted in other surveys because of small sample sizes and lack of linguistic representation.

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May 05, 2026

Fewer AAPI adults report hate incidents but racism concerns linger, new poll shows

Fewer Asian American and Pacific Islander adults are reporting overt anti-Asian attacks than during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic...

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Ricky Skaggs Says 'I Felt Like I Needed to Come Back' to Bluegrass, the 'Music of My Youth,' After Country Albums (Exclusive)

Ricky Skaggs reflected on his genre-crossing career and pivotal shift from bluegrass to country in the 1980s

NEED TO KNOW

• He returned to bluegrass in the mid-1990s after Bill Monroe’s death, reigniting interest in the traditional genre

• Skaggs praised young artists like Wyatt Ellis and Billy Strings for bringing bluegrass back into the spotlight

Ricky Skaggsknows a thing or two about musical versatility.

For decades, Skaggs' career has been marked by his prolific, seamless shifts between genres. As a result, his critically lauded works have shaped both bluegrass and country music along the way. However, when the Grammy-winning artist, 71, looks back on the totality of his career, he's quick to admit that it’s difficult to pinpoint a single defining moment.

“I can't really put my thumb on exactly a certain time,” Skaggs told PEOPLE exclusively at the Musicians Hall of Fame 2026 induction event in Nashville.

Nonetheless, two pivotal shifts that Skaggs consciously acknowledges came when he stepped away from full-time bluegrass early in his career, and then ultimately returned to it in full force years later.

After he departed as a member of the iconicEmmylou Harris’ band while she took time off to start a family in the late 1970s, Skaggs saw an opportunity for himself as a solo artist. “I thought, 'Man, what a better time for me to go ahead and try to do a record,' ” he recalled of that moment.

The culmination of that idea was a country project rooted in tradition, inspired by the sounds of the ’60s and ’70s and layered with the bluegrass influences he took in during his youth. In turn, Skaggs effectively drew a bridge between two iconic staple genres of American roots music.

What came next in his career was for the history books. After crossing over, Skaggs achieved roughly a dozen No. 1 country singles during his mainstream country career. The son of Cordell, Ky., was launched into the country music stratosphere with his major-label debut,Waitin' for the Sun to Shine(1981), which then led to Skaggs dominating the genre's charts throughout the rest of the 1980s.

But by the mid-1990s, the genre was evolving in ways that didn’t quite fit Skaggs' artistic vision.

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"Country was really changing, you know," he explained to PEOPLE. "Going in, you know, 12 buses per artist ... the big stadium country ... and I just didn’t really want to try to keep up with that.”

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It was, ultimately, a major loss in the bluegrass world that ended up pulling Skaggs back into the Appalachian-soaked genre. Following the 1996 death of Bill Monroe, who is widely considered the father of bluegrass, the picker felt a profound calling to return to his roots and, in a way, pick up the torch from Monroe.

“I felt like I needed to come back — come back to my roots,” Skaggs said of bluegrass, which he described as "the music of my youth."

“When I came back, it really shot a shockwave into acoustic musicians," he recalled. As the story goes, fans and fellow musicians quickly noticed his fervent commitment to “real bluegrass again with a real bluegrass band,” reinforcing his pedigree and influencing a new generation. Skaggs knows that a conscious look-back was "one of the turning points" for his "legacy."

More than half a century after emerging onto the scene and recontextualizing the notion of a crossover artist, Skaggs sees the influences that informed him reflected in a rising crop of young artists who are helping bring bluegrass back into the spotlight.

Among those exciting him most is 16-year-old prodigyWyatt Ellis, whom he praises as “a great mandolin player,” as well asSierra Hull, who recently earned four 2026 Grammy nominations. “I wish I could play mandolin like her,” Skaggs added with a laugh. He also pointed toBilly Stringsas another standout artist making bluegrass part of the wider popular music conversation again.

“It’s just really great to see so many young artists,” Skaggs said, noting how they are embracing the same songs and traditions that shaped him and "really trying to perpetuate them as well.”

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May 04, 2026

Ricky Skaggs Says 'I Felt Like I Needed to Come Back' to Bluegrass, the 'Music of My Youth,' After Country Albums (Exclusive)

Ricky Skaggs reflected on his genre-crossing career and pivotal shift from bluegrass to country in the 1980s NEED TO KNOW ...

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Taye Diggs Recalls Hilarious Onstage Mishap While Performing in “Wicked ”with Ex-Wife Idina Menzel: 'Everybody Laughed' (Exclusive)

Taye Diggs has one Broadway moment that sticks in his head from when he was in Wicked with then-wife Idina Menzel

NEED TO KNOW

• Diggs stepped in to play Fiyero in the beloved musical in December 2003 opposite Menzel's Elphaba

• The actor spoke with PEOPLE about the moment at the opening night of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone

The audience may have long forgotten, but there’s one stage mistake that sticks out inTaye Diggs’ mind.

At the opening night ofJoe Turner’s Come and Goneat The Barrymore Theatre in New York City on April 25, Diggs shares with PEOPLE one of his most "memorable moments" from his time on the Broadway stage.

“I was doingWickedwith my then-wifeIdina [Menzel], and I was playing the Scarecrow and there was this moment when I'm supposed to swing out on stage and I'm supposed to throw the broomstick to Idina and I threw the broomstick and it almost went offstage,” Diggs recalls.

He tells PEOPLE that the blunder stunned Menzel — and the audience.

“Everybody laughed. I will never forget that," he adds. "I was so excited to be in the show with my then wife and be the cool guy that comes swinging out. I threw the broom."

Diggs got his start on Broadway as part of the ensemble in the 1994 revival ofCarousel.Two years later, he got his breakout role as Benjamin Coffin III in the original production ofRent,which opened up doors for him to enter the world of television and film.

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He temporarily joined the cast ofWickedin December 2003 as Fiyero alongside Menzel, who played Elphaba. The original cast also featured Kristin Chenoweth (Glinda), Joel Grey (The Wizard), Carole Shelley (Madame Morrible), Michelle Federer (Nessarose), Christopher Fitzgerald (Boq), William Youmans (Doctor Dillamond) and Norbert Leo Butz, who played Fiyero but had to briefly step away due to a back injury, passing the role to Diggs.

Diggs and Menzel weremarried from 2003 to 2014,and the pairshare a son, Walker.

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While no stranger to the stage, Diggs recently toldPEOPLEthat when hereturned to Broadway after a 10-year hiatusto play The Duke of Monroth inMoulin Rouge! The Musical,he was “way more scared than I thought I would be,” since “Broadway was where I got my start.”

“There's nothing like being in front of a live audience, but it had been over 10 years since I'd been on stage, so I did not take into account the fear and the terror that I would go through," he admits. "But once I was obviously well rehearsed and once you get out there, there's no turning back, then I was able to appreciate why I'm there in the first place."

"That love for theater, there's nothing like it," he continues. "I'd like to do more. I'm just gonna remember how scared I was that time to be prepared."

Read the original article onPeople

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May 04, 2026

Taye Diggs Recalls Hilarious Onstage Mishap While Performing in “Wicked ”with Ex-Wife Idina Menzel: 'Everybody Laughed' (Exclusive)

Taye Diggs has one Broadway moment that sticks in his head from when he was in Wicked with then-wife Idina Menzel NEED TO KNOW ...

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