Though it’s been nearly 25 years since the beloved ’90s hit TV show “Boy Meets World” came to an end, there still seems to be quite a bit of tension between some of its stars.
During a recent episode of the “Pod Meets World” podcast, hosts and former co-stars Danielle Fishel, Ryder Strong and Will Friedle welcomed guest Maitland Ward (who portrayed Rachel McQuire in the later seasons) to discuss their shared experiences. While the conversation was lighthearted for the first half of the 90-minute episode, things took an awkward turn when Fishel (who portrayed Topanga Lawrence in the series) asked Ward, “Do you hate us?”
“No, I do not hate you,” said Ward, who has since found success as an adult film star. “I think that you hate me because you wouldn’t speak to me on ‘Girl Meets World’ (the Disney Channel spin-off of ‘Boy Meets World’) and that was hurtful.”
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Maitland Ward called former “Boy Meets World” co-star Danielle Fishel “disingenuous.” (Getty Images)
“You had an attitude about it. There was some beef between us, and I didn’t get it,” she later added. “I didn’t know if you thought I was trying to steal attention… I was genuinely confused why we wouldn’t be good.”
Fishel admitted that “Girl Meets World” – which she starred in alongside Ben Savage (who played her longtime love, Cory Matthews, in “Boy Meets World”), Sabrina Carpenter and Rowan Blanchard – was a “very difficult set” to be on.
“Let’s put it this way, the memories we have of the fun set of ‘Boy Meets World’ were not the memories of the fun set of ‘Girl Meets World,'” she said. “I went into it expecting it to be, and it wasn’t. It was a rather tumultuous place. I felt very ostracized. I felt very criticized. I felt a lot of different things being on that set… I am sorry that you thought I had something personally against you.”
“You didn’t like the fact that I was getting a lot of attention at that time and going off in my own space and taking away that attention,” said Ward.
“Boy Meets World” ran for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000. (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Ward also brought up the fact that Fishel seemingly unfriended her on Facebook years ago.
In 2013, Ward sent Fishel a Facebook message but never received a response. Fishel said she rarely used Facebook and didn’t see the message until 2022 after Friedle had connected with Ward about appearing on their podcast. Fishel said she asked Friedle to get Ward’s number so she could apologize to her directly.
“You wrote back to Will, ‘No, let’s just save it for the podcast'” and later added that Ward said it would “rock the stats.”
Ward said she felt Fishel’s request was “disingenuous.”
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That wasn’t the end of their heated back-and-forth.
Fishel asked Ward why she had spoken negatively about the cast in the past, to which Ward responded, “Are you trying to accuse me of using you, or are you trying to accuse me of something?”
“I think there’s a divide, too, because you hate Ben (Savage) and you guys hate (creator) Michael (Jacobs),” she added.
“Ben is one of the most important people I’ve ever met in my life, and I can’t stand the fact that he won’t speak to us,” Friedle responded. “And that’s what it is: He won’t speak to us,” he said. “I can show you the last three years, literally, of messages and in the middle of a conversation with Ben, he just bailed on me. Ben absolutely one day woke up and said, ‘I don’t want Will in my life’ and never told me why.”
When Fishel asked Ward if she listens to their podcast on a regular basis, she said, “No,” but claimed it focuses on a lot of “negative stuff.”
Matthew Lawrence and Maitland Ward on “Boy Meets World.” Ward portrayed Rachel McQuire on the beloved TV show. (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
“The same way you wrote your book about your experiences doesn’t mean that they’re negative,” said Fishel, who referenced Ward’s 2022 memoir. “They’re just experiences. So you don’t listen to the podcast regularly, but your overall opinion of it is that we are negative about Michael and Ben and the show.”
“Let’s be honest about this. You’re trying to go at me now to get the ratings because you know that people will be interested. I just wanted to remember the good times,” Ward said.
“I’m not the one who wanted to go for ratings… This is what you asked for,” Fishel responded.
After saying their goodbyes, Fishel said Ward’s decision to come on the podcast seemed like “an opportunity for her to get press by having conflict.”
Fishel said Ward’s decision to come on the podcast seemed like “an opportunity for her to get press by having conflict.” (Getty Images)
“Similarly to the way she decided when ‘Girl Meets World’ and all that stuff was in the press, that that was an opportunity for her to make a name for herself in cosplay play and in role-playing, she felt like this was an opportunity for her to get press by having conflict, which I am just not your girl to do that,” Fishel said of the heated exchange. “And she thought it was disingenuous for me to reach out to her. I think wanting to do it for stats is disingenuous.”
Representatives for Ward and Fishel did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
