Danielle Fishel’s conversation with former Boy Meets World costar Maitland Ward took a dramatic turn when the pair began rehashing their ongoing feud.
The tension began on the Monday, February 23, episode of the “Pod Meets World” podcast when Fishel, 43, asked Ward, 48, “Do you hate us?” Ward replied, “No, I do not hate you. I think that you hate me because you wouldn’t speak to me on Girl Meets World and that was hurtful.”
Fishel appeared surprised by the claim, replying, “I wouldn’t speak to you? I did talk to you.”
While rehashing the drama, Ward claimed that Fishel unfollowed her on Facebook — which Fishel denied. Ward had sent Fishel a message years prior, congratulating Fishel on her engagement to now ex-husband Tim Belusko — but Fishel didn’t see it until years later. (Fishel is now married to Jensen Karp, with whom she shares sons Adler, 5, and Keaton, 3.)
“I am not a Facebook person,” Fishel said. “I then went into my Facebook page, saw that we were not friends. Didn’t remember when we were friends on Facebook or when we were no longer friends on Facebook. I found your message in the graveyard of messages, and I then felt very bad.”
Fishel explained that she tried to reach out to Ward through Will Friedle after discovering the message, but was told to save their conversation for a later date — Ward’s appearance on the podcast.
“I asked Will, ‘Will you please ask Maitland if I could have her phone number so I could apologize to her?’” Fishel said. “And you wrote back to Will, ‘No, let’s just save it for the podcast, it will be great for the ratings.’”
Ward denied that she suggested the conversation would benefit ratings and claimed she thought the conversation would have happened “right away.” While recalling their relationship, Ward pointed out that she invited Fishel to her wedding in 2006 — which Fishel thought “came out of nowhere.” After the nuptials, Fishel and Ward did not speak again.
Years later, the pair reunited on the Girl Meets World set and Ward claimed to be “genuinely confused” by a rift in her relationship with Fishel. (The Boy Meets World spinoff, Girl Meets World, aired on Disney from 2014 to 2017.)
“There was some beef between us and I didn’t get it. And maybe I picked up the wrong signals, but definitely there was some sort of weirdness there,” Ward said, adding that she “did not know” what could have gone wrong in her friendship with Fishel. “I didn’t know if you thought that I was trying to come onto the set and take over. Not take over, but try to steal attention or something. But I didn’t know.”
Fishel noted that she did not feel like she was “not good” with Ward, before claiming that the set of Girl Meets World was a “tumultuous” experience. Fishel alleged that she felt “very ostracized,” before apologizing to Ward.
“I am sorry that you thought I had something personally against you,” Fishel said, to which Ward replied, “Listen, 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.”
Getty Images (3) Danielle Fishel didn’t hold back when revisiting her crush on Rider Strong — and her jealousy of this then-girlfriend, Rachael Leigh Cook. Thank You! You have successfully subscribed. Subscribe to newsletters Please enter a valid email. Subscribe By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails […]
Fishel responded, “I was on the cover of Maxim in 2014.”
The pair began going back-and-forth about why Ward thought Fishel may have had hard feelings toward her. “I’m sorry that you thought it was about you,” Fishel said.
Before resolving the conflict, Fishel alleged that Ward criticizes their rewatch podcast to TMZ, which Ward claimed that the outlet finds her on the street. “Are you trying to accuse me of using you, or are you trying to accuse me of something?” Ward asked.
Ward claimed that there’s a “divide” because “you hate Ben [Savage] and you guys hate [series creator] Michael [Jacobs],” which the hosts denied hating either.
Boy Meets World alum Danielle Fishel got candid about the harrowing experience of being sexualized as a teenager — and how it’s affected her personal relationships over the years. “I’ve always been able to hold a conversation with an adult. I can look you in the eye. I’ve always been those things,” Fishel, 42, said […]
Friedle said, “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. And that’s what it is: He won’t speak to us.” Friedle alleged “in the middle of a conversation with Ben, he just bailed on me.”
Ward accused the hosts of “grilling” her in the interview, before later alleging, “Let’s be honest about this, you’re trying to go at me now because of the ratings and because people will be interested.” Fishel replied, “No Maitland, I’m not the one who wanted to go for ratings.”
Despite the tension, Fishel and Ward’s conversation ended in a calmer manner. “It was nice to reminisce,” Fishel reflected. “Share some good times, share some not-so-good times.”
