Justin Timberlake at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscars party© Jamie Mccarthy/Getty Images
At the height of its sitcom fame in the ’90s, “Boy Meets World” had frequent appearances on set from the sensational boy band *NSYNC, who apparently did not get along with the male cast members. And some of the men on the cast are now opening up about their subtle feud with the pop group.
On the September 9, 2024, episode of the podcast “Pod Meets World,” Lawrence reminisced over his “Boy Meets World” days with his former cast mates and hosts of the podcast, Will Friedle, Rider Strong, and Danielle Fishel. “I don’t know if you guys — well, of course, you remember this — but when *NSYNC kept coming over to the set?” Lawrence asked his friends. “I found out years later, when I bumped into Justin [Timberlake], that he thought I was not very nice.”
Lawrence described running into the musician just after his 2002 solo debut album “Justified” was released, recalling their sour interaction. According to the “Boy Meets World” actor, Timberlake confronted him, saying, “Oh yeah, yeah, now you want to be friends with me? You were so mean on the set.” Noting that he was a huge fan of Timberlake’s new album, Lawrence was shocked that there was any bad blood between them.
Why Did Matthew Lawrence And Justin Timberlake Not Get Along On The Set Of Boy Meets World?
Matthew Lawrence at the 2002 premiere of ‘The Hot Chick’© Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock
According to Will Friedle, they were always doing odd things on the set of “Boy Meets World,” and he remembered *NSYNC member Justin Timberlake getting weirded out by some of their antics. During the podcast, Friedle recalled an instance where he and co-star Matthew Lawrence were messing around with a baby doll on set. The “Batman Beyond” actor said they put cigarettes in the doll’s mouth and mimicked it coughing. “Justin just look at me and went, ‘Are you actually crazy?'” Friedle said.
Lawrence, however, got the brunt of Timberlake’s hostility. He and the rest of his former castmates agreed that part of the reason the “Sexy Back” singer didn’t feel welcomed by Lawrence on set was simply due to his shyness. But that wasn’t the whole story. The “Mrs. Doubtfire” star revealed that he had a major crush on his co-star, Danielle Fishel, who apparently received constant attention from the boy band. “I was wondering if you were gonna say it!” Fishel said. “I was like, ‘I also know why [Timberlake] was probably a little standoffish.'” Lawrence never got a chance to explain his crush on Fishel to Timberlake, so he believes their beef lies with that one factor. According to Rider Strong, all the members of *NSYNC gravitated toward Fishel, adding they were “just orbiting around Danielle in a constant circle.”
Danielle Fishel Would Ignore Her Male Castmates On Set When *NSYNC Was Around
Danielle Fishel and Lance Bass smiling© John M. Heller/Getty Images
The battle for Danielle Fishel’s attention on the set of “Boy Meets World” was neverending. Rider Strong remembered how frustrating it was for him, Matthew Lawrence, and Will Friedle when Fishel would ignore them to hang out with *NSYNC members, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, JC Chasez, and Chris Kirkpatrick. “We would, like, lose our sister,” Strong said on the podcast. “We would just lose her, and we’d be like, ‘Oh, god. She totally changes around them. She just totally changes.'”
Fishel ended up getting close to one member of the band. “She had a one-in-five chance,” Friedle teased about her public relationship with band member Bass, who ultimately came out as gay in 2006, years after he dated Fishel. “I liked the comfort and security of knowing nothing was gonna happen,” she joked.
