The “Pod Meets World” podcast was forced to add a warning for adult language to its latest episode after “Boy Meets World” co-stars Maitland Ward and Danielle Fishel got into a heated exchange.
The Feb. 23 episode featured Ward, known for her portrayal of Rachel McGuire in the hit 1990s sitcom, who discussed her transition from actor to adult film star after visiting the “Girl Meets World” set in 2015. The tone changed when Fishel, who recently revealed she has completed “active cancer treatment” after her August diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), asked Ward, “Do you hate us?”
“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,” she said, according to Variety.
The two discussed the evolution of their relationship, beginning with an incident involving Facebook. In 2013, Ward sent a heartfelt message to Fishel, only to later discover that they were no longer friends on the platform, as she had been removed from Fishel’s friend list.
Fishel, who seldom used Facebook, did not come across the message until 2022. During a conversation with Will Friedle about joining an episode of the podcast, he mentioned Ward’s message.
Prompted by this, Fishel searched for the message, and upon finding it, she reached out to ask for Ward’s contact information.
Fishel recalled that Ward had told Friedle, “No, let’s save it for the podcast,” explaining that Ward thought her appearance would happen sooner rather than later. However, Ward had originally anticipated joining the show much earlier, not realizing it would take years. This delay, as it turned out, made sense, given that her character doesn’t appear until Season 6 — just the point they had reached in their rewatch.
Ward said she found Fishel’s request to talk to be “disingenuous,” particularly after feeling overlooked on the “Girl Meets World” set, despite believing they had been friends.
“You had an attitude about it. There was some beef between us, and I didn’t get it,” Ward said of her time on the spinoff. “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” was a “very difficult set” for her.
“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.”
After the conversation seemed to settle on the podcast, Fishel raised the issue of Ward speaking negatively about the cast in TMZ interviews whenever the podcast is in the news, asking how this happens.
Ward explained that photographers still seek her out due to the ongoing interest in the show, and then confronted Fishel, asking if she was accusing her of using the cast or something else. Ward went on to suggest that tension between them stemmed from the co-hosts’ relationships with Ben Savage and show creator Michael Jacobs. In 2023, Fishel, Friedle, and Rider Strong had revealed in a Variety interview that Savage no longer communicates with them.
Elsewhere, Ward mentioned that she doesn’t regularly listen to the podcast, but when she has, she finds it filled with negativity — a point that Fishel challenged.
“The same way you wrote your book about your experiences doesn’t mean that they’re negative. They’re just experiences,” Fishel said. “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.”
Ward refuted, “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.” Fishel responded, “I’m not the one who wanted to go for ratings … This is what you asked for.”
Fishel pointed out that while Ward claims to want to be positive now, in previous press appearances, “that’s when you want to drag our names through the mud.”
As the conversation settled, Fishel thanked Ward for appearing on the podcast, adding that she did not hate her at all.
“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,” she added. “I think wanting to do it for stats is disingenuous.”
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