Danielle Fishel, Maitland Ward. Getty Photographs(2)
Danielle Fishel and Maitland Ward’s drama began lengthy earlier than their heated “Pod Meets World” dialog.
Fishel and Ward met whereas filming Boy Meets World season 6 in 1998. Fishel had been on the collection since its inaugural season in 1993, and Ward joined the solid 5 years later. The ladies labored collectively till the collection wrapped up in 2000.
Years after Boy Meets World got here to an finish, Fishel would go on to return to the spinoff collection Lady Meets World and later transitioned to working behind the scenes in TV. Ward, for her half, joined the grownup leisure trade.
In these years for the reason that present had wrapped, Ward and Fischel sparked a feud. It seemingly started over Ward claiming that she reached out to Fishel by way of Fb to congratulate her on her engagement to her first-husband Tim Belusko in 2012. Nonetheless, Fishell claimed that she didn’t see the message till years later. (Fishel is now married to husband Jensen Karp.)
The pair reunited on a February 2025 episode of “Pod Meets World,” which Fishel hosts alongside fellow costars Will Friedle and Rider Sturdy, and Fishel and Ward received right into a heated alternate over their points.
Preserve scrolling for a break down on Fishel and Ward’s feud:
‘Boy Meets World’
On the ABC present, Fishel and Ward performed Topanga and Rachel, respectively. They labored collectively for 2 seasons till the collection wrapped up in 2000.
‘Lady Meets World’ Drama
At one level when the spinoff was airing from 2014 to 2017, Ward visited the set for a taping however didn’t make a visitor look on digicam. Ward claimed that Fishel was chilly towards her.
“I used to be shocked that she didn’t even … she stated ‘Whats up,’ that’s it. It’s only a bizarre sort of factor, and I want that we might be mates and I don’t know the total causes behind it,” Ward solely instructed Us Weekly in September 2022. “I had heard possibly she didn’t like the entire outdated costars on the present, the women to come back again on there or one thing, however I don’t know why she didn’t or doesn’t like me … we didn’t, like, have a blowout. I used to be anticipating bear hugs like I received from the blokes [Ben Savage and Rider Strong], and [with Danielle] it was like, ‘Oh … hello.’”
Three years later, Ward and Fishel rehashed the interplay and supplied some readability about why she wasn’t very pleasant whereas working.
“It was a really, very troublesome set. Let’s put it this manner: The reminiscences we now have of the enjoyable set of Boy Meets World weren’t the reminiscences [from the] set of Lady Meets World,” Fishel stated in February 2025. “It simply wasn’t. And I went into it hoping it was going to be. I went into it anticipating it to be. And it wasn’t. It was a quite tumultuous place. It was a spot I felt very ostracized. I felt very criticized. I felt quite a lot of various things being on that set.”
Fishel apologized to Ward for pondering she had “one thing personally towards” her.
Maitland Ward’s Memoir Claims
In Ward’s e-book, My Escape from Hollywood: Unapologetic, Unfiltered and Unashamed, she opened up about her ups and downs with Fishel whereas on set.
“She undoubtedly didn’t appear to hate me,” she wrote within the 2022 memoir. “The truth is, we related over stuff you wouldn’t count on, like our love of Chihuahuas and pet rats. Nonetheless, regardless of how properly we received alongside, there would all the time be part of me that distrusted her and her motives towards me, and all of it stemmed from Kaitlin Simpson Michael [Jacob’s] first warnings.”
The Fb Debate
Throughout Ward’s February 2025 look on “Pod Meets World,” the actress claimed that Fishel ignored her Fb message from 2012 and unfriended her. Fishel denied that she ignored it and acknowledged that she doesn’t frequent the platform.
“I’m not a Fb particular person,” Fishel stated. “I then went into my Fb web page, noticed that we weren’t mates. Didn’t bear in mind once we have been mates on Fb or once we have been not mates on Fb. I discovered your message within the graveyard of messages, and I then felt very unhealthy.”
Fishel defined that she wished to succeed in out to Ward to apologize so requested Friedle for her quantity. Nonetheless, she was instructed to save lots of their dialog for Ward’s eventual look on the podcast.
‘Pod Meets World’ Argument
Fishel and Ward’s drama reignited throughout a heated alternate on a February 2025 episode. Whereas the chat began off good, issues took a flip which prompted Fishel to ask Ward if she “hated” them. Ward replied, “No,” however determined to air out her grievances.
“There was some beef between us and I didn’t get it. And possibly I picked up the improper indicators, however undoubtedly there was some type of weirdness there,” Ward stated, including that she “didn’t know” what might have gone improper with the twosome’s friendship. “I didn’t know if you happen to thought that I used to be attempting to come back onto the set and take over. Not take over, however attempt to steal consideration or one thing. However I didn’t know.”
Fishel responded, “I used to be on the duvet of Maxim in 2014.”
Ward then went on to say that Fishel, Friedle and Sturdy had issues with the present creator and star Ben Savage (who’s famously not on talking phrases along with his costars) due to feedback they made on the podcast. The trio denied the feelings. She additionally accused the hosts of “grilling” her within the interview.
“Let’s be sincere about this, you’re attempting to go at me now due to the rankings and since folks will probably be ,” she claimed. Fishel replied, “No Maitland, I’m not the one who wished to go for rankings.”
Regardless of the tense dialog, it did finish in a peaceful method.
“It was good to reminisce,” Fishel stated. “Share some good instances, share some not-so-good instances.”
Podcast Aftermath
Following the headline-making look, Ward mirrored on her and Fishel’s backwards and forwards.
“I’m simply shocked by the entire scenario, and I’ve had somewhat time to replicate on it since I did the present every week and a half in the past,” Ward instructed TooFab in an interview someday after the present dropped. “It simply felt uneasy to have folks that you simply referred to as mates — particularly up to now, I believed Danielle was my pal — I can see that she didn’t like me, and he or she has harbored not liking me by way of the years, nevertheless it’s unhappy to me too.”
Ward clarified that she didn’t go onto the present to “create controversy” noting that the primary a part of the interview was “very pleasant.”
“I believed, like, any issues we had, we might discuss in a conversational manner, so I wasn’t anticipating such a jarring shift,” Ward claimed. “It was like, swiftly she was Topanga after which she switched into [Mean Girls’] Regina George.”
Us has reached out to Fishel’s staff for remark.
