It’s no secret that many TV shows of the ’90s were dominated with white characters, a choice that execs say they would change now if they had the choice.
One of those shows was Boy Meets World, in which Trina McGee starred as the only Black actress on the beloved sitcom for the final two seasons. The Angela Moore portrayer recently spoke with Yahoo News about her experience on the show, the racially insensitive joke which was made at her expense, and even how Danielle Fishel gave her the cold shoulder years later.
Related: Danielle Fishel Gets Candid About Mom Guilt: ‘Is My Baby Allergic To Me?’
It all started back in January when Trina tweeted:
“Called aunt Jemima on set during hair and make up. Called a bitter bitch when I quietly waited for my scene to finish rehearsing that was being f’ed up over and over due to episode featuring my character. Told “ it was nice of you to join us” like a stranger after 60 episodes”
This month, McGee explained to the outlet why she was silent for many years after the sitcom ended, but won’t be moving forward:
“I feel like I’m always the one who had to squelch it and move on. What about me? What about all this stuff I’m taking and ingesting in me, and not really totally realizing how much it’s lowering my vibration, my self-esteem.”
Looking back on the situation which she tweeted about, she doesn’t believe Will Friedle AKA Eric Matthews understood the severity of what he said. Though he did apologize later, she didn’t feel it was “completely sincere”:
“I don’t think he understood how I had to deal with it. I didn’t have a hairdresser. All those little micro braids you see, I stayed up all night doing them right before I went on national television for myself.”
Trina was reunited with some original cast members for the spinoff series on Disney Channel, Girl Meets World, when she says her co-star Rider Strong AKA Shawn Hunter brought up the insensitive moment and tried to brush it off as Friedle attempting to get a rise out of her:
“When I walked away from that experience, I got pissed again because I was like, What the hell? Years later, this is the explanation for it?”
Rightfully so!! This isn’t something to joke about.
Fishel also met her with a cold shoulder while on the set of GMW, which she opened up about:
“Danielle decided to be really tight and not talk. We did discuss it recently, because she called me to apologize. She was going through a lot at the time on a person level.”
In June, the Topanga Lawrence actress took to Twitter to publicly apologize to McGee for her on-set behavior after a fan quickly called her out following a post about the Black Lives Matter movement:
“I owed @realtrinamcgee an apology for being rude, cold, & distant when she guest starred on GMW (her tweet regarding warm hellos being met with cold blank stares was about me). Trina and I spoke over a month ago and she gracefully accepted my apology.”
We’re glad they have a better relationship now, but there’s no excuse for not treating everyone as they should be!!
[Image via Nicky Nelson/Guillermo Proano/WENN.]
Related Posts
-
Categories
