Maitland Ward is decompressing after her explosive argument with Danielle Fishel — and she has a LOT to say.
During Sunday’s episode of the Boy Meets World rewatch podcast Pod Meets World, hosted by Danielle, Will Friedle, and Rider Strong, the trio welcomed their estranged co-star… And the feud that’s been brewing for years finally exploded. Now, the chaotic argument is now out there for everyone to hear. And Maitland has a lot of feelings to get off her chest!
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During an interview with Too Fab published on Tuesday, the 48-year-old told the outlet:
“I’m a little — I won’t say shaken up or anything, I’m just surprised by the whole situation, and I’ve had a little time to reflect on it since I did the show a week and a half ago. It just felt uneasy to have people that you called friends — especially in the past, I thought Danielle was my friend — I can see that she did not like me, and she has harbored not liking me through the years, but it’s sad to me too.”
During the podcast episode, Danielle denied disliking Maitland and shut down rumors she was ever jealous of the adult film star. She also accused Maitland of coming on the podcast with the sole intention of racking up ratings by airing out their grievances for fans to hear, rather than just having a private conversation — something Maitland firmly denies. She insisted:
“I just wanna say I did not come on that show to create controversy and to drum anything up at that time. And I think fans can see that. The first part of the show was very friendly, that’s why it was such a weird switch at the end.”
The whole reason Danielle, Rider, and Will were able to book Maitland as a guest — despite her believing they wanted nothing to do with her — is because Will has maintained a friendship with her throughout all the other cast members’ various falling outs. So, Maitland feels caught off guard by what she claimed on the podcast was a “grilling session.” She told the outlet:
“I’m a little hurt by Will in the way that he presented it to me that it was gonna be fun, people were looking forward to it, and we were just gonna you talk it out — not even talk it out, just have conversations about the show and stuff. I thought like any problems we had, we would talk in a conversational way, so I wasn’t expecting such a jarring shift. It was like, all of a sudden she was Topanga and then she switched into Regina George. It’s just really hurtful to come on a show and with people you’ve known, almost your whole life, and then she proceeded to ask me, ‘Did I hate them,’ and I say, ‘No, you hate me.’”
Oof!
Danielle asked Maitland point blank if she hates her during the episode, which Maitland expressed she felt the opposite was true… Particularly because of the Facebook issue. During the podcast, Maitland talked about how she sent Danielle a sweet message on FB all the way back in 2013, only to find out she’d been unfriended. Since such was the case, Danielle claimed she didn’t see the message until 2022 when Will made her aware of it after a conversation he had with Maitland.
The White Chicks star told the outlet:
“She tells me the whole conflict about the Facebook friending back-and-forth like, ‘Did you unfriend her?’ She did. Then goes, ‘Could I have done it within 10 years? Yes, probably, but it was probably part of like a group garbage dump,’ so that’s great. And then after that the letter that I sent her, ‘Oh, it’s probably stuck in my garbage somewhere in the Facebook universe,’ and I’m like, OK well that makes me feel really great that that’s how you’re coming on to tell me this … basically you hate me more than I even realized.”
She continued:
“And it’s sad, because I have done nothing over the years — and I’m talking about years, 20 years, however long it’s been — but be nice to her, and she even insinuated that me inviting her to my wedding was out of the blue, and like I was trying to do something about that. This was 18 years ago, and I really genuinely liked her and wanted her to come to the wedding. It’s just disheartening in many ways because I wish it would’ve been a time where we could’ve talked about it and just had a nice conversation.”
Maitland also went on to speculate Danielle’s animosity comes from a place of disdain over the fact that Maitland made up with Boy Meets World star Ben Savage and creator Michael Jacobs — two people Danielle is not on speaking terms with:
“I know they are always against Michael Jacobs and Ben and they know that I am on good terms with both of them, and actually, I had problems with Michael and Disney, back in the day, and I’d written about it in my book and talked about it. And after my book was out, Michael came to me and we had a long conversation, and we really talked about things, and I really appreciate that, and I think that that meant so much to it, and we’re in such a good place now because of that, and we continued to have an open conversation about both of what we were feeling, and what was going on at the time. And I think we really came to a knowledge about, listen, the late ’90s and early 2000s were a terrible time for women in Hollywood. It was the mindset of the time.”
And that’s a stark difference in the way she feels Danielle, Will, and Rider approached her, she furthered:
“I don’t think that they came to me in that kind of place. And then accusing me of trying to come on the show, stir things up. […] I think it was disingenuous of them for two-and-a-half years ago, for Will to come to me, and say, ‘Hey, will you be in our press release when we’re launching the podcast? We really want you to be part of the initial launch,’ and then it’s two-and-a-half years later until they make an overture for me to come on.”
Still, she’s ultimately glad she was able to open Boy Meets World fans’ eyes to the type of tension she and Danielle have cultivated for the past several years. The Bold and the Beautiful alum expressed:
“I’m glad that I am able to clear the air for the fans. I think people thought I was making up, or exaggerating the fact that she didn’t like me. I think it’s kind of demonstrated now that there’s something there that she doesn’t like about me. And I wish we could talk further about it. I’m very open to talking further about it with her. But I wish it was done a different way on the podcast. I wish it would’ve been done in a more conversational, respectful way to each other. It was out of nowhere.”
She went on to speculate Danielle has been “harboring some stuff against me,” telling the outlet:
“I didn’t even realize how deep it was, but I always could tell that she didn’t like me. And I know she was in a bad place at the time of Girl Meets World, and I did not realize the depths of that, so I feel bad about that, but I don’t know where she’s coming [from], because I wasn’t gonna come on the show and do that. I wasn’t gonna come charge at her. I do things wrong too in relationships and friendships, I’m not saying that I’m perfect at all, but I would never have gone at her like that, never in public like that.”
Since shooting the podcast episode last week, Maitland said she hasn’t been contacted by any of the three hosts… Even so, she’d be open to returning for another conversation. Wow! She concluded:
“I am not a coward about these things and I would do it. I definitely think there’s more to be said on the matter, and I think it has to be approached in a more adult way. There are big problems in the world, and we were discussing at length whether or not she unfriended me on Facebook. These were kind of petty matters in a lot of ways, but I think we can have a deeper conversation. And especially, I’d like to hear Will’s point of view too, because that was most personally hurtful, because I didn’t see that coming, that he knew about it or anything.”
Yeesh. SO much to this.
If you missed it or need a refresher, you can listen to the heated podcast interview here:
What are your reactions, Perezcious readers? Would you like to see Maitland return to the Pod Meets World podcast for another conversation? Let us know in the comments down (below).
[Images via Danielle Fishel/TikTok & ABC/YouTube & ABC/Disney+]
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