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Dustin Diamond’s Early Years
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Everett
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Dustin Diamond on SBTB: The College Years and The New Class
Saved By the Bell cast.Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
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Dustin Diamond’s Sex Tape
Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty
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Dustin Diamond on Celebrity Fit Club
Dustin Diamond.Chris Polk/FilmMagic
“On one hand, [it] helped because it did break that image,” he continued. “But in retrospect, I kind of wish I hadn’t gone exactly that route. But there’s no instruction book for any of this. You don’t know what’s going to work. You have to take that gamble. I wanted to rattle the cage, but I didn’t think that it would rattle so much.”
Diamond’s next shot at enduring fame was on the U.K.‘sCelebrity Big Brother 12.He was evicted 16 days in.
06of 09Dustin Diamond’s Book, Behind the BellAmazonIn 2009, Diamond dropped a tell-all calledBehind the Bell, full of juicy stories from his time on the series. “It’s no holds barred,” he told PEOPLE ahead of its release. “But the embarrassing parts are embarrassing for all of us, myself included.“That same year, the rest of the cast reunited for a PEOPLE shoot without him; at the time, PEOPLE reported, he was “no longer close with his castmates.”
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Dustin Diamond’s Book, Behind the Bell
Amazon
In 2009, Diamond dropped a tell-all calledBehind the Bell, full of juicy stories from his time on the series. “It’s no holds barred,” he told PEOPLE ahead of its release. “But the embarrassing parts are embarrassing for all of us, myself included.”
That same year, the rest of the cast reunited for a PEOPLE shoot without him; at the time, PEOPLE reported, he was “no longer close with his castmates.”
07of 09Dustin Diamond Is ArrestedAP/ShutterstockOn Dec. 26, 2014,Diamond was arrestedin Wisconsin after allegedly stabbing a man in a bar. The actor — then living in a small town outside of Milwaukee — was charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon. The actor claimed self-defense, saying other patrons were the ones to first get physical with his then-fiancée, Amanda Schutz.He was released from jailthree days later, though ultimately served three months for his crimes in early 2016.Speaking to Extra’s Mario Lopez later that year about the experience in jail, he said, “It’s pretty daunting, it’s pretty scary going into that environment. I found that as long as you follow the rules and stay with the system, it works. You can get in and out unscathed.“In May 2016, Diamond was arrested again, this time for violating his probation.
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Dustin Diamond Is Arrested
AP/Shutterstock
On Dec. 26, 2014,Diamond was arrestedin Wisconsin after allegedly stabbing a man in a bar. The actor — then living in a small town outside of Milwaukee — was charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety, disorderly conduct and carrying a concealed weapon. The actor claimed self-defense, saying other patrons were the ones to first get physical with his then-fiancée, Amanda Schutz.He was released from jailthree days later, though ultimately served three months for his crimes in early 2016.
Speaking to Extra’s Mario Lopez later that year about the experience in jail, he said, “It’s pretty daunting, it’s pretty scary going into that environment. I found that as long as you follow the rules and stay with the system, it works. You can get in and out unscathed.”
In May 2016, Diamond was arrested again, this time for violating his probation.
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Dustin Diamond’s Public Apology
Sony Pictures Television
“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,” he said directly to the camera, adding that he used a ghostwriter for the book, and said many of the claims made within it were “upsetting to more than just the other cast members — upsetting to me as well.”
“Honestly, since I think we finished the show is the last time I actually spoke to him, but not because of anything bad,“Berkley toldTodayin late 2020. “I mean, he was always nice to me and he’s had his journey.”
Gosselaar toldThe Hollywood Reporterthat if the two ran into each other, “[I’d say] ‘Hey, what’s going on, man?’ Would we go grab a beer afterwards? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean anything.”
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Dustin Diamond Dies
Dustin Diamond.Noel Vasquez/Getty
In early 2021, a rep for Diamond confirmed that the actor had checked into a hospital for an illness that was later confirmed to be cancer. On Jan. 21, the rep saidthe actor had started chemotherapyfor stage 4 small cell carcinoma, a cancer that commonly occurs in lungs, but can also manifest in the prostate or gastrointestinal tract.
A second round of chemotherapy was being scheduled and Diamond was also set to begin physical therapy in the near future, according toNBC News. Sadly,he died on Feb. 1, 2021, at the age of 44.
“He’s had a history of mishaps, of unfortunate events. We want the public to understand that he was not intentionally malevolent,” the statement continued. “He — much like the rest of those who act out and behave poorly — had undergone a great deal of turmoil and heartache. His actions, though rebukeable, stemmed from loss and the lack of knowledge on how to process that pain properly. In actuality, Dustin was a humorous and high-spirited individual whose greatest passion was to make others laugh. He was able to sense and feel other peoples’ emotions to such a length that he was able to feel them too — a strength and a flaw, all in one.”
source: people.com
