Boy Meets World

Dos actores de "Boy Meets World" dicen que ahora tienen una imagen distorsionada de una estrella invitada a su programa, después de que el hombre fuera condenado por un cargo de abuso sexual infantil.

Rider Strong y Will Friedle abordaron este tema de frente junto a su compañera de reparto Danielle Fishel en su pódcast "Pod Meets World" el lunes, donde hablaron de Brian Peck, un actor que fue condenado por cargos de abuso sexual infantil en la década de 2000.

En ese momento, fue acusado de abusar de un actor infantil no identificado de Nickelodeon y terminó aceptando un acuerdo con la fiscalía y cumpliendo más de un año tras las rejas. Ahora aparecerá en un nuevo documental sobre el lado oscuro de Nick que se emitirá en marzo.

Bueno, resulta que Rider y Will dicen que también conocían a este tipo, ya que actuó en su propio programa un par de veces, y aunque, literalmente solo fue invitado en dos episodios de con papeles muy menores, los actores dicen que estaba profundamente arraigado en sus vidas y los ha dejado sintiéndose realmente incómodos todos estos años después.

Ahora que miran hacia atrás, Will y Rider dicen que su afán por ser buenos amigos con ellos en ese entonces y salir con ellos muchas veces después del trabajo, al parecer era inapropiado y extraño, pero en ese momento no sospechaban nada.

Cuando las acusaciones en su contra surgieron por primera vez - cosa que en última instancia lo llevó a los tribunales- Will y Rider dicen que compraron la historia de Peck de ser víctima de "cebo cárcel" e incluso fue a hablar a favor del chico cuando se presentó ante un juez, porque le creían.

Dicen que ahora se dan cuenta de lo retorcida que era su relación con este tipo y ambos expresan vergüenza y arrepentimiento por haberse afiliado con él, incluso cuando eran adultos jóvenes.

Two actors from 'Boy Meets World' say they now have a warped view of a guest star from their show ... after the guy was later convicted on a child molestation charge.

Rider Strong and Will Friedle tackled this issue head-on alongside fellow costar Danielle Fishel on their 'Pod Meets World' podcast Monday -- where they discussed Brian Peck, an actor who was convicted on child sexual abuse charges back in the early 2000s.

At the time, he was accused of molesting an unidentified Nickelodeon child actor and ended up taking a plea deal and serving over a year behind bars. He's now set to be featured in this new documentary about the ugly underbelly of Nick that's airing in March.

Welp, as it turns out ... Rider and Will say they also knew this guy back in the day since he acted on their own show a couple times -- and even though he literally only guest-starred on two 'BMW' episodes with very minor roles, the actors now say he was deeply embedded into their lives ... and it's left them feeling creeped out and uneasy all these years later.

As they look back now, Will and Rider say his eagerness to be good pals with 'em back then -- hanging out with them a lot after work, apparently -- was wildly inappropriate and weird ... but at the time, they say they didn't suspect anything.

When allegations against him first surfaced in the early aughts -- which ultimately landed him in court -- Will and Rider say they bought Peck's story of falling victim to "jail bait" ... and even went to bat for the guy as he appeared before a judge, 'cause they believed him.

They say they now realize how twisted their relationship with this guy was ... and both express shame and regret for ever affiliating themselves with him, even as young adults.

Matthew Lawrence is praising his new girlfriend ... telling us TLC's Chilli is "one of the most spectacular people" he's ever known.

We got the "Boy Meets World" star Thursday at Nesmon Cafe and Boutique in Sherman Oaks, CA, and our photog asked him if going Instagram official with the singer has changed their relationship dynamic.

Matthew says he and Chilli have agreed to keep their romance private, but that doesn't mean he can't talk about how great a partner she is ... saying he's never met anyone quite like her.

TMZ broke the story ... Matthew and Chilli started officially dating right before Thanksgiving, spending the holidays together in Atlanta, where ML met her family.

Chilli's since met Matthew's relatives, including his famous brothers, and they had nothing but praise for her as well ... telling us she makes Matthew really happy, and that's all that matters.

Remember, Chilli is Matthew's first serious relationship in the wake of his divorce from "Dancing with the Stars" pro, Cheryl Burke. They started hanging out in the summer, going on vacation together in Hawaii and hit it off.

Maitland Ward from "Boy Meets World" says she's in costar Ben Savage's corner as he makes his run for congress ... even if it might be an uphill battle for him.

We got the actress, who played Rachel on the hit show, in Bev Hills and she had nothing but positive things to say about Ben ... adding he's always been into politics, so his drive for a seat in the House of Representatives makes sense.

She does seem kinda doubtful about him getting a W, though ... admitting it's gonna be a very tough fight. However, she has some killer Cory Matthews-themed campaign ideas to give him a leg up on the competition!

As we reported, Ben filed paperwork this month expressing interest to run for CA's 30th district, which includes parts of Los Angeles and its northern cities.

The filing came after he unsuccessfully ran for West Hollywood City Council back in November.

Maitland, who's famously transitioned into the porn industry, was all for Ben's decision to join that race, but says he might not have had enough brand recognition that time around.

Ben Savage wants another bite at the apple in politics -- only this time, he's thinking bigger ... now running for a U.S. Congressional seat.

The "Boy Meets World" star is throwing his hat in the ring for a soon-to-be vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives -- assuming Rep. Adam Schiff makes a run for Sen. Dianne Feinstein's Senate seat, which is widely expected to happen in the near future.

Anticipating that political shift ... Ben has officially filed paperwork expressing his interest to enter the race for a chance to represent California's 30th District, which includes parts of Los Angeles and cities immediately to its north.

Of course, this comes just a couple months after Ben tried his hand at more local politics -- in November, he ran for L.A. City Council, but lost ... garnering only 6.3% of the vote and tying for 7th place.

Rather than take his ball and go home, though ... Cory Matthews is getting back out there. He's registered as a Democrat, same as when he ran for city council.

Ben actually interned for then-U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania back in the 2000s while he was a student at Stanford University.

Fans accusing TLC's Chilli of coming between Matthew Lawrence and his ex -- 'DWTS' star Cheryl Burke -- are barking up the wrong tree ... even though Cheryl seems to be throwing shade about the new relationship.

A source familiar with the situation tells TMZ ... Matthew's divorce was filed before he started talking to Chilli in any romantic way -- they knew each other, but simply weren't pursuing one another.

Chilli and Matthew did reconnect in March, a month after Cheryl filed for divorce, at a '90s convention ... but sources say they waited a while before jumping into anything serious due to Matthew being fresh out of his marriage.

Chilli was even dating other people up until they made things official over the holidays -- and we're told Matthew and Cheryl weren't living together when the romance began.

In fact, Cheryl herself says she and Matthew were officially single as of September.

As we reported, Chilli and the "Boy Meets World" star spent the holidays -- Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year -- together in Atlanta with her family.

Cheryl took to Instagram soon after our story, posting a short and seemingly sour message -- "That was fast ..."

Maitland Ward has a theory about why things aren't great between Danielle Fishel and her -- and it's all about the former costars having an unspoken war of hotness.

We got the actress -- who's doing adult films lately -- in L.A. on the heels of her releasing a memoir, "Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me from Hollywood." She's dishing juicy stories she's experienced in the biz ... including while shooting "Boy Meets World."

One of the nuggets that seeped out into her writing was an apparent feud that developed between Topanga (Fishel) and her. The puzzling part of that revelation is Maitland tells us the beef evolved out of nowhere ... at least on the surface of things.

We asked why she thinks Danielle might've given her the cold shoulder in recent years ... and what sparked the apparent animosity?

In Maitland's eyes, she thinks it all goes back to the Disney set they used to share, and the spotlight she thinks Danielle wanted all for herself.

Not just that, Maitland also suggests that her pivot into porn might have something to do with this -- she says Danielle's a bit more straight-laced than she is, and her career shift probably doesn't sit too well with her ... especially since Maitland's character was already getting the extra-sexy treatment during their original run way back when.

Speaking of that, there's another sort of bombshell Maitland revealed in her book -- namely that producers for the show allegedly used to ask her to model lingerie as they were tinkering with storylines.

Slimy stuff, no doubt and painfully reminiscent of allegations other child stars have recently made about their on-set experiences.

Twitter is at it again -- calling the "Boy Meets World" spinoff, "Girl Meets World," "problematic" years after it went off the air ... all because of how it dealt with delicate topics.

For whatever reason, several different clips from the show -- which ran on Disney Channel between 2014 and 2017 -- were resurfaced over the weekend ... with many of them drawing the ire of random Twitter users who are criticizing the show with a 2021 lens.

One example ... a clip where the character Farkle expresses he doesn't necessarily believe in God because he can't "see" him, basically suggesting he might be agnostic. Cory Matthews (now playing a Mr. Feeny-esque character) chimes in and explains that just because Farkle can't see God, doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't exist, using ROYGBIV as an example.

Heavy-handed? Eh, maybe. Is it "problematic" and worthy of ridicule ... not at all. Still, Twitter truthers are crushing the show for "pushing" Christian beliefs -- when in reality, all that's happening is an adult is, at worst, trying to influence a kid. Which is ... fine. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Here's another "problematic" theme people are now finding vile and offensive. That same character, Farkle, once said he might be autistic with Asperger's -- which his friends try to deny and convince him otherwise ... which Tweeters *think* means Disney was suggesting being autistic is a bad thing and something to be looked down on -- that's a huge reach.

His friends were just showing concern ... which again, is fine. Just because they weren't throwing him a party for the news doesn't mean they were saying Asperger's is awful.

One last episode that's getting gutted some 4 years later ... 'GMW' touched on communism, of all things. Some of the kids in Cory's history class go full commie -- and they play up the stereotype that communists all think the same and want everyone to be the same.

Cory gives a corny speech praising the fact that differences are important ... kinda punching a hole through the so-called communism doctrine. People are now claiming that Disney intended to shove capitalism down kids' throats ... which yet again, is twisting things.

Maitland Ward's encounter with an actress is coming back to bite her in the butt ... because she's being sued over the filming of those steamy scenes.

A reality TV and adult entertainment actress, along with a videographer/editor, are suing the former "Boy Meets World" actress turned porn star claiming she screwed them out of more than $270,000 they claim they rightfully earned.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the actress and videographer claim they started working together in July 2017, and all went fine and dandy. So good, in fact, Maitland allegedly started hooking up with the actress off-screen. But, according to the lawsuit, that relationship went south ... and so did a deal they say they cut with Maitland around September 2018 that was supposed to land them a hefty payday.

In docs, the actress and videographer claim Ward and her lawyer got a hold of the money they were all supposed to split, but instead of getting paid they got strung along with bad checks and broken promises. The actress and videographer are now suing for the money they claim they're owed -- $180K for the actress and $90K for the videographer -- plus other damages.

We've reached out to Maitland, so far no word back.

Maitland Ward says there's a lot of porn potential in two controversial ads for this holiday season -- and it sounds like she wants to do 'em ... make them into spoofs, we mean.

We talked to the former "Boy Meets World" actress -- who played Rachel for a few seasons,  but has since turned to adult films -- and asked her about the recent Hallmark commercial that was temporarily yanked from the network because it featured a lesbian couple kissing. Maitland says the move was ridiculous, and yes ... she was offended.

Our photog went a little deeper though and asked a natural follow-up ... any potential there for a porno spin on it??? Check it out -- seems like Maitland thinks there might be a sex-filled future, which she says would absolutely piss off Hallmark. Hmmm ... you think?!?

More than that though, she says the highly-mocked Peloton ad is porn gold. She doesn't exactly explain why, but we'll just let your dirty imagination run wild with the possibilities.

William Daniels, the actor who played Mr. Feeny in "Boy Meets World," stopped an attempted burglary at his home ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... William and his wife, actress Bonnie Bartlett, were at their San Fernando Valley home Saturday night at 9:20 PM when someone tried to kick in the back door. William sprang into action, turned on the lights, and the intruder high-tailed it off the property.

Sounds like Mr. Feeny is still pretty sharp at age 91 ... we're guessing he's still got eyes in the back of his head after his longstanding role as teacher-turned-principal on the ABC sitcom. It was always tough to sneak anything past him, just ask Ben Savage.

Despite a recent rash of burglaries in the area targeting celebs, cops believe the attempted burglary was a random act and William was not targeted.

Rider Strong -- the guy who played Shawn Hunter on "Boy Meets World" back in the day -- says he hasn't signed on to reprise his role on the new spin-off show ... but that could change.

Strong just released a statement about Disney's new show "Girl Meets World" -- which will star Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel from the original 90s show -- and Strong says, "At this point, I have no official involvement."

But Strong adds, "There might be a chance to see some of the BMW cast in a guest spot, and I think it would be nice to find out where our characters have been all these years. But Girl Meets World will be, and I think it should be, it’s own show."

Ben Savage has been SWORN TO SECRECY about the new "Boy Meets World" project ... or so it seems, 'cause when we asked about the rumored reboot last night -- he clammed up like it was a matter of national security.

Savage -- aka Cory Matthews -- was out in L.A. amidst rumors that Disney is all set to relaunch the famous '90s sitcom -- but this time around, the story will focus on the daughter his character had with Topanga.

According to reports, both Savage and Danielle Fishel have been approached to return for the reboot -- but neither actor has officially signed on.

Last night, Savage made it clear ... he knows something, but refused to drop details.

The resurrection of "Boy Meets World" might be the greatest news ever for TGIF fans -- AND former cast members who are looking to book a sweet new acting gig.

TMZ spoke with Lily Nicksay -- who played Cory's little sister Morgan from 1993-1995, before being replaced by an older chick.

The now 24-year-old tells TMZ ... She's very excited Disney is revamping the show -- adding, "I'd love to talk [to Disney] about being a part of it."

The news broke this weekend ... the mouse's reboot will be "Girl Meets World" -- and will focus on Cory and Topanga's daughter ... with both Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel reportedly being courted to star.

We're told Lily has NOT been approached yet ... but we're sure there's room for a hot aunt in the script somewhere.