Boy Meets World's Trina McGee claims Will Friedle hurled racial insult at her
In January this year, Trina McGee had written about being at the receiving end of racial slurs while she was doing her TV show 'Boy Meets World'. She hadn't revealed the name of the person who'd subjected her to this ordeal but on Thursday, April 16, via an Instagram post, she named Will Friedle as the castmate who racially insulted her on-set.
The 50-year-old actress played Angela Moore in the series and her post she wrote about being called "Aunt Jemima" on set. "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,". She also recalled the unpleasant outsider treatment that was meted out to her during her time on the show. "Told “ it was nice of you to join us” like a stranger after 60 episodes" she wrote.
On Thursday (April 16) McGee posted a throwback photo with Will, now 43, to her 14,500 Instagram followers along with the caption: 'FOR THE RECORD: WILL FRIEDLE the man responsible for AuntJemmagate, apologized to me 22 years ago and again days ago in a three-page letter.' It was not a name and shame incident but she wrote about how her castmate had rectified his mistake.
"We talked more on it and he acknowledged that he really wasn't educated enough in his early twenties to know he was truly offending me. THIS SHOULD AND COULD BE A TEACHING MOMENT FOR ALL,"she added.
"For all people of all races or different backgrounds. He has conveyed to me how much this has changed his perception of comedy. And humanity. We all fall short of sensitivity at times, but let's be real on what EXTREME RACISM IS," McGee further posted talking about Will who seemed to have more than made up for his mistake.
McGee also shared a story of what she thinks extreme racism is. Her grandfather Scuddie McGee had to flee South Carolina overnight because he was threatened with lynching by a white store owner who was offended by Scuddie pointing out that he was handed out the wrong change after a purchase.
"Scuddie McGee left South Carolina that night for fear of his life. Bringing his small family along with him to New Jersey.? I'm not backing down on the truth. It's stands. Will apologized to me and I forgave him, I then apologized to him for making the statements public because his joke came out of just not knowing, not viciousness and he forgave me. That's what friends do," Trina posted.
She concluded: "Now get back to washing your hands and surviving this pandemic and let the love and hope be the next pandemic. #loseonefriendloseallfriendsloseyourself #trinamcgee'."
McGee played the best friend of Topanga Matthews [Danielle Fishel] and the love interest of Shawn Hunter [Rider Strong] on Boy Meets World from 1997 to 2000. Friedle played Eric Matthews, the wacky older brother of the show's main protagonist Cory Matthews, portrayed by Ben Savage, 39. 'Boy Meets World' ran for seven seasons from September 1993 to May 2000 on ABC.
The spin-off 'Girl Meets World' aired on the Disney Channel from June 2014 to January 2017.