“Ned's Declassified”'s Devon Werkheiser Had Falling Out with Costar Daniel Curtis Lee After Attempted 'Cult' Recruitment

The two 'Ned's Declassified' stars didn't talk for two years after Werkheiser suggested Lee attend a "cult-adjacent" workshop amid a "dark time" in the latter's life

Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide gave Devon Werkheiser and Daniel Curtis Lee a two-decade-long friendship, but it has not been without its challenges.

On the May 29 episode of the actors' rewatch podcast, Ned’s Declassified Podcast Survival Guide, Werkheiser and Lee, both 33, reflected on the two-year fallout their friendship endured when Werkheiser suggested Lee attend a "workshop that is cult-adjacent."

"You were, like, mad at me for a couple years," Werkheiser recalled of his friend's response to the idea, which marked the first time the pair weren't "cool" with each other for a while. "That was the only time Daniel and I went through a time where we didn't talk for a little while after that, cause we always stayed in touch."

"I was already going through my own stuff, right, but I did not need that at the time, bro. That was the last interaction that I wanted to have with anybody," Lee said, recalling how his costar "called to check up" and see if he was "sure" about not joining the proposed workshop.

"I think I really just, like, laid in and I was like, 'Bro, you're the worst effing thing that ever happened to me in my life. If I'd never done this show with you...'"

Related: Drake Bell Calls Out Ned's Declassified Alums for Mocking His Sexual Assault Revelation: 'Really?'

Werkheiser said it was a "dark time" for the friends, and Lee said it was "extra" difficult due to the tight bond they'd formed, as Werkheiser had become one of the "people closest to me from my childhood."

Lee said he felt like his friend was "trying to be a salesman" when pitching the workshop to him, as he was "going through" some things at the time and "didn't really have somebody to talk to."

"So, it was refreshing thinking, 'Oh, yeah – Dev, we'll catch up,'" Lee recalled of his mindset when his former castmate reached out.

Werkheiser shared that there was "no money" involved with his pitch to his friend, and he was only thinking, "Wouldn't it be great if the people you love had their life changed?"

"And, meanwhile, Daniel's telling me, like, he doesn't believe in f---ing people or the world or food," Werkheiser continued. "Daniel was in a dark time. I'm like, I can offer Daniel a place where he could grow and become the man he wants to be and thrive. And meanwhile, Daniel's like, 'I don't trust you, motherf-----.'"

Lindsey Shaw, their costar and fellow co-host of the podcast, said that the actors eventually "came back together" around the time they turned 30.

"That was the the most disconnected Daniel and I ever were," Werkheiser said of the two-year fallout.

Lee pointed out that they'd "never had a reason to be" so disconnected previously, as Werkheiser agreed, adding, "We never crossed f---ing boundaries like that."

Related: Pretty Little Liars' Lindsey Shaw Recalls Being Fired in the Throes of a 'Cycle' of Drug and Eating Struggles

Shaw, 35, Werkheiser and Lee launched their rewatch podcast last year after teasing fans on TikTok with a reunion. The podcast marks the first time the trio have reunited since the three-season sitcom, which premiered on Nickelodeon in 2004 and concluded in 2007.

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Seasons 1 and 2 of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide can be streamed in full on Paramount+ and Netflix.

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