Former Disney star turned porn star says she’s more respected now

Six years ago, former Disney star Maitland Ward took the plunge into the world of pornography—and she hasn’t looked back since.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, the former Disney star, who rose to fame playing Rachel McGuire in the final seasons of the beloved 1990s series Boy Meets World, opened up about her transition and the “empowerment” she feels to this day.

“I do think people treat me with more respect now, even in Hollywood,” Ward said. “I’m putting my memoir on TV and connecting with people. They’re so respectful and so positive about my story, and I really feel like I have a lot of positivity around it. I can create my own brand, my own content, the way I want to.”

“I haven’t had any hate or anything like that,” she added of her decision to get into pornography. “I’ve actually gotten a lot of positivity in general, which has shocked everyone I know. Everyone thought people were just going to tear me apart and judge me and make fun of me, but I’ve gotten so much positivity.”

“Just being naked and being confident in my body and myself, I would never have been able to do that [before],” Ward admitted. “Porn has really given me that, that power, the ability to create projects that I want to create and that I’m proud of, and to go against the grain and do things that other people haven’t done or were afraid to do. When you can do that, you feel so much more confident because you’ve done something that no one else has done.”