‘Boy Meets World’ Star Trina McGee Was Told Co-Stars Didn’t Want Her In Series Finale, Recalls Being Asked To ‘Turn Down’ Her ‘Black Meter’

September 19, 2022 by Monique Nicole in TV with 0 Comments

‘Boy Meets World’ Star Trina McGee Was Told Co-Stars Didn’t Want Her In Series Finale, Recalls Being Asked To ‘Turn Down’ Her ‘Black Meter’

Trina McGee, who played Angela Moore during the final three seasons of the 90’s sitcom, ‘Boy Meets World’ revealed why she wasn’t part of the series finale.

During a recent episode of the ‘Pod Meets World’ podcast–which is hosted by her 3 fellow cast members, Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle–Trina McGee got very candid about her time on the show and some of the difficulties she faced behind the scenes as the only African American woman on the series.

When discussing her absence from the series finale, Mcgee dropped a bombshell that shocked her co-stars.

“This is some ground we have not covered. I was told, in kind of a weird, off-handed way by a very important person, that you guys all went to [showrunner] Michael Jacobs, and you said, ‘We don’t want her in the last episode. She’s somehow taking our light.’ [That] was the gist of it.”

She continued,

“I was told that after I shot what was the show before the last episode, which was called ‘Angela’s Ashes’ when I left. When Michael announced to me, we’re going to do another show on Angela, I was so happy, not knowing this was going to be the show before the last show.”

Trina McGee the jasmine brand

Co-hosts Strong, Fishel and Friedle were shocked and appalled over that claim — and felt awful that Trina McGee was told that 22 years ago. She elaborated,

“I remember after we taped the show, I had said to a person, ‘Why aren’t we on the last show?’ Because I know the last show was going to be the one with the ratings and the crying and all the stuff. I was under the impression that y’all got together and did not want me in the last show, for some reason I was going to take some shine or something to that effect.”

McGee continued,

“That was really hurtful to me for a long time. To make it worse, people of color tend to look into things a little harder sometimes. So I had cousins calling me, saying, ‘How come you weren’t in the last episode? They just gave you that whole show so that you’d be distracted and wouldn’t be in the show with the real ratings?’ Several of my cousins, my family members were telling me this… I have honestly had that in my head for 20 years.”

Will Friedle was not happy about the claim and quickly interjected,

“Can we say for the record, Trina, that never happened. That’s not competitiveness, that’s sociopathy. This pisses me off. This is next level.”

Boy Meets World Cast

Trina McGee kindly replied,

“I believe you. I can tell by your reactions. I have had that in my head for so long, and I’ve never watched that show. I’ve always felt like, ugh… That hurt me a long time.”

While Fishel and McGee remembered being pitted against each other, the men said that it wasn’t the same for them, rather they were manipulated.

Rider Strong–who played Shawn Hunter said,

“It’s true that we weren’t played against each other, but I won’t go so far to say we weren’t manipulated.”

Will Friedle responded,

“Oh no, that’s different. Manipulated all the time. But it wasn’t whispering in one ear, whispering in another ear about something else.”

Before the family sitcom, Trina McGee had starred in multiple sitcoms with Black casts, including “A Different World,” “Martin” and “Family Matters.”

During the recent interview, McGee went on to reveal that she was once told by the showrunner to ‘tone down’ her blackness. She explained,

“Coming from Black sitcoms, I always had to have like a Black meter… My Black meter was probably down to a 2. I remember when I was doing ‘Angela’s Ashes’ episode, somehow my Black meter had slipped up and I was at about a 9. Michael Jacobs [showrunner] came over to me and his note was, ‘Hey Trina, just turn down the Telma Hopkins about eight notches,”

noting that the producer was referencing the Black “Family Matters” actor.

“I knew exactly what he was talking about and I did. … There are so many things you guys are so lucky you didn’t have to think about.”

McGee and Friedle went on to share an interaction they had on set that he says completely changed his life. They recounted the conversation on the podcast, noting that on set, McGee came out of the dressing room in a red headscarf. As previously reported, Trina McGee revealed that she was called Aunt Jemima by co-star Will Friedle, who played Eric Matthews. Friedle apologized for his comment many years ago and says that he had no ill intent behind the remark and thought it was funny banter, as the cast often joked around with each other. He explained:

“In my head, I attached no cultural significance to that whatsoever. I saw a person who I thought was my friend but didn’t know very well, wearing a big, red hat. That’s all I saw. I was like, ‘You’re part of the cast, so that means, I’m gonna make fun of you the same way I make fun [of others].’ I thought, ‘Gonna make fun of her red hat.’ That’s as far as my dumbass, privileged mind saw. So right before I walked on for my part, I walked by and went, ‘Love your syrup,’ and walked on to the set, thinking ‘Boom, zing! Just got her for her hat.”

Trina McGee, Will Friedle

After the scene, McGee told Friedle his comment referring to her as Aunt Jemima was not appropriate. She explained,

“I remember saying to you, ‘I assumed that was like you calling me the jolly green giant.’ You were like, ‘No, that’s not the same thing at all.’” Friedle said. “Never use the time as an excuse but the mid-90s, I had no idea of the cultural significance of the Aunt Jemima character, any of that stuff… I had never heard that! I was mortified.”

After she explained the offensive comment to him, he apologized and they hugged — but he was “literally shaking” afterward. McGee recalled feeling “very small,” to which Friedle responded, “How could you not?”

He continued,

“It literally changed my life. That moment was the moment where I was like, you can’t just say stuff. You can’t throw stuff out there, because you think it’s funny and walk away. You could be hurting people.”