Hi everyone, sorry if this is the wrong category but I wasn't entirely sure where to post it.
Anyway, I'm wondering what to do here...
I have a friend I've known for a very long time (over 10 years), let's call him Sam. Sam has a friend, let's call him Eric.
Sam and Eric have a very heated friendship where they have been arguing on and off a lot lately. Both Sam and Eric aren't in relationships, but want to be... and this is where the issues come in.
There have been times where Sam and Eric have been interested in the same person and it's caused tension. So much so that they have argued about it before. They also both share the same kind of hobby (video making) and it's opened up the social group, which in itself isn't an issue BUT a lot of dirty laundry has been aired behind one another's backs to the social group.
I recently found out that Eric got very angry at Sam at one point and created a fake account to talk to Sam.
Here's the kicker... He pretended to be a girl and started sexting him.
Eric sent sexual messages to Sam in order to mess with him, and I know for a fact he did it because he told me and a bunch of other online friends about it. He was even laughing about it.
Sam eventually sent him a slightly explicit image (not a nude image) and that's become a "joke" to Eric and his friends. Eric led Sam on for a while but I think Sam stepped away from it eventually.
One day, Sam started an online "thing" with a different woman and they got on well, but the friendship group (myself NOT included) didn't like this girl, including Eric. So arguments happened.
Apparently, Eric's fake account had been flirting with Sam online to annoy this girl intentionally and so, more arguments.
Some time went by and Eric told some of our mutual friends that he retired the fake account.
However, one day when we were all playing a game online, Eric and Sam had had an argument that day, and suddenly this fake account appeared again and was trying to cause a lot of drama. Sam told everyone to block her and ignore it, but I'd found out a few days before that, who that account really was.
Now, Sam and Eric are friends again, but Sam doesn't know about that fake account, and Eric going behind his back like that.
So, my question is... what would you do in this situation? I want to tell Sam what has really happened, but I know a LOT of drama will happen.
We're all in our mid to late twenties and I feel like this schoolyard drama shouldn't be happening (I'm never drawn to the drama, but I got dragged in when Eric confessed it all in a voice chat) and now I don't know what to do.
Telling Sam will mean he gets hurt and he'll be embarrassed about the things he said and pics he sent, but it would also mean that he has the opportunity to cut out some toxicity from his life. The problem with telling him is that it could mess up other friendships (since a lot have been made online) and I don't want anyone to get hurt. I liked Eric when I met him, but since he said that, I'm furious and I've been trying to work out what to do about it.
Any advice or opinions would be highly appreciated.