May the best man win.
Justin Timberlake and Matthew Lawrence were at odds over their affection for Danielle Fishel on the set of “Boy Meets World” in the early 2000s.
Lawrence, 44, recalled his beef with the “SexyBack” singer, 43, on Monday’s episode of the “Pod Meets World” podcast hosted by Fishel, 43, and her former co-stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong.
Rider Strong, Ben Savage, Will Friedle, Danielle Fishel, Matthew Lawrence on “Boy Meets World.”©ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection
Justin Timberlake in 1998.Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
“I don’t know if you guys — well, of course, you remember this — but when *NSYNC kept coming over to the set? I found out years later, when I bumped into Justin, that he thought I was not very nice,” Lawrence told his fellow “Boy Meets World” alums.
The actor, who played Jack Hunter on the coming-of-age sitcom, said that at the time he was “a huge fan” of Timberlake, whose debut album, 2002’s “Justified,” had just come out.
Matthew Lawrence at the “Cruel Summer” premiere on May 31, 2023.FilmMagic
However, the tension between the pair was evident to Lawrence once he approached Timberlake.
“I didn’t have any recollection of this, and he was like, ‘Oh yeah? Yeah? Now you wanna be friends with me? You were so mean on the set,” Lawrence recalled. “And then I sort of remember.”
William Daniels, Ben Savage, Danielle Fishel, Matthew Lawrence in “Boy Meets World.”©ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection
The “Mrs. Doubtfire” star admitted that he “was super shy” then, before confessing another reason why Timberlake didn’t like him.
“I had, you know, kind of a crush on Danielle. And these guys kept rolling up on set, like, trying to hit on her!” he revealed.
Danielle Fishel at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Festival.Getty Images for iHeartRadio
Strong, 44, confirmed that the members of *NSYNC — Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, Chris Kirpatrick and JC Chasez — were “just orbiting around Danielle in a constant circle.”
“I was wondering if you were gonna say it!” Fishel said in response to Lawrence admitting the crush he had on her. “I was like, ‘I also know why he was probably a little standoffish.’”
*NSYNC in 1999.WireImage
Danielle Fishel at 90s Con in September 2023.Araya Doheny/Shutterstock
Strong further explained how the boy band fawned over Fishel on the set of the show.
“I remember us guys would always be like, ‘These dudes! Oh my god, they come around here.’ And we would watch Danielle, like, completely ignore all of us,” Strong recalled. “We would, like, lose our sister. We would just lose her, and we’d be like, ‘Oh, god. She totally changes around them. She just totally changes.’”
Friedle, 48, noted that Fishel “had a one-in-five chance” at the group, and poked fun at how she ultimately chose Bass, 45. The pair dated years before Bass came out as gay.
Danielle Fishel and Lance Bass in 2006.Getty Images
“I liked the comfort and security of knowing nothing was gonna happen,” Fishel joked about her relationship with Bass.
Turning back to the Timberlake-Lawrence beef, Lawrence said he “didn’t get a chance to explain” to Timberlake that he had a crush on Fishel, which provoked their beef.
Will Friedle, Rider Strong, Matthew Lawrence in “Boy Meets World.”©ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection
Seven years after “Boy Meets World” ended, Lawrence started dating “Dancing With the Stars” pro Cheryl Burke. They got married in 2019 but Burke, 40, filed for divorce in 2022. The divorce was finalized later that year.
Lawrence is now dating Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas from the girl group TLC.
Jessica Biel, Justin Timberlake at the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.WireImage for Vanity Fair
Timberlake, meanwhile, has been married to Jessica Biel since 2012 and they have two kids together. Biel, 42, has stood by Timberlake through cheating allegations and his recent DWI charge.
And Fishel is married to producer Jensen Karp, with whom she shares two children. The actress announced on her podcast last month that she was diagnosed with an early stage of breast cancer.
