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Ben Savage’s silence is all the confirmation the world needs that the former child star has outgrown his Boy Meets World roots. Book Meets World: The Definitive Inside Story of the Hit Sitcom Boy Meets World hit shelves Tuesday, November 10. It was co-written by Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle, and Rider Strong with journalist Emily Longeretta, and it gathers stories from the trio’s hit rewatch podcast, Pod Meets World, along with exclusive behind-the-scenes stories and photos. The show’s leading man, Ben Savage, had nothing to do with it. That was 100% his decision and echoes how he’s approached the show and his former castmates in recent years.

Ben Savage opted out of ‘Book Meets World’

While Boy Meets World fans are excited to get an inside look into the world the show created, they’ll have to do it without Cory Matthews’ voice. While the other main cast members have spent the last few years reliving their early acting job on Pod Meets World, Ben Savage, the actor who played Cory, has not. In a recent episode of the podcast, Will Friedle, the actor who played Eric Matthews, asked the journalist involved with the book why Ben Savage won’t talk to her.

Longeretta said it was a “mystery.” She went on to reveal that several people reached out to Savage hoping to get him involved in the project, but nothing ever came of it. Savage didn’t even offer the team a “no”; he simply did not respond to requests. Entertainment Weekly reached out to Savage, too, hoping to hear his side of the story. He, once again, did not respond.

How Ben went quiet

Ben Savage’s silence didn’t start with the book; he’s been dodging anything related to Boy Meets World for years. The actor, who played Cory from 1993 to 2000 and reprised the role on Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World, reportedly cut his former co-stars out of his life suddenly and without explanation.

According to the castmates’ documentary Doc Meets World, which premiered in June, Savage was friendly at first but uninterested in the podcast. Over time, he became less and less responsive, then unfollowed the group on Instagram and blocked their phone numbers.

Will Friedle, who played Cory’s big brother Eric, has been hit especially hard by the sudden ghosting. In the documentary, he says Savage hasn’t answered his texts since April 2020. They had previously maintained a close relationship. In one message, Friedle wrote that he would call “every day until you pick up or tell me to stop.” Savage never replied. Strong, who played best friend Shawn, also shares a text in the film that went unanswered. Friedle previously said his wife urged him to stop trying to connect after months of unanswered messages.

The reason for Savage’s actions remains unknown. Savage has never publicly explained it, and the only accounts come from his castmates, who say he simply didn’t want to take part in their projects. They have long maintained that nothing actually went wrong between them that they know of. All three have claimed no argument, fight, or disagreement took place. Based on their account, he just stopped answering one day.

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