‘Boy Meets Word' star Maitland Ward claims Danielle Fishel created ‘toxic' environment during podcast exchange
After reflecting on her recent heated exchange with former "Boy Meets World" co-star Danielle Fishel, Maitland Ward has some thoughts.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Ward - who portrayed Rachel McQuire in the later seasons of the beloved '90s TV show - opened up about the "very toxic" situation she found herself in while appearing on the "Pod Meets World" podcast on Monday.
"I never expected the turn it was going to take, ever," said Ward, who was bluntly asked by Fishel if she hated her former co-stars during the episode. "And I was not going to come in there and start going at Danielle or start rehashing things like she said that I was plotting to do because you can see I was just sitting there, and all of a sudden she just flips."
'BOY MEETS WORLD' ACTRESS MAITLAND WARD SLAMS CO-STAR AS 'DISINGENUOUS' DURING FIERY EXCHANGE
During the episode, Ward joined hosts and former co-stars Fishel, Ryder Strong and Will Friedle to discuss their shared experience on the show. However, when Fishel asked Ward if she hated them, things took a turn for the worse.
"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."
"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."
Ward told Fox News Digital that she felt "bullied" by her former friends and co-stars, and claims it was a "very toxic" situation.
"I felt [bullied] because it was three against one, really four because [Fishel's] husband is the producer," she continued. "So it was like I was surrounded by — I really felt surrounded, and it's weird because they were my friends in the past, and just imagine stepping back into a high school situation or college or whatever, and you see old friends, and then all of a sudden every single grievance you ever had with them is fresh on their minds, and they want to just come at you. So it felt like a very toxic situation."
Later in the episode, 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."
"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."
"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."
Ward had a different point of view.
"I did not create the conflict on that show," she told Fox News Digital. "I was not trying to create conflict. And I think it's funny that she says I tried to create the conflict from it, to get press when she tried to create the conflict for this show to get press and views and listens and everything for the podcast."
"I wasn't going to benefit financially from that show," she added. "So I think she's very two-faced in that situation. I think she doesn't enjoy that I have had success from 'Boy Meets World' like that. And I think she should be reminded that I get attention for other things that I do too."
Fox News Digital has reached out to reps for Fishel, Strong and Friedle for comment.
Despite the heated back-and-forth, Ward said she wouldn't be opposed to returning to the podcast to discuss everything in a productive manner.
"I'm not a coward to that," she said. "I will come back and do it, but it needs to be done in a more positive way I guess."
"I just wish we would've been able to talk it out in a way that was, in a way that the audience could have been brought in and have it be a positive situation where we could have learned from each other and the audience could have grown with us in that situation," she added. "It should have been that."
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