Hilary Duff Sparks More Disney Channel Drama Days After Ashley Tisdale Feud

Hilary Duff is back in the headlines after apparently rubbing the creator of “Hannah Montana” the wrong way. During a recent interview, Duff, who starred in her own Disney Channel sitcom, spoke about the show’s impact in the early 2000s and suggested it may have inspired the Miley Cyrus-led series that spawned concerts, a blockbuster movie, and five studio albums. However, according to Michael Poryes, who created the titular character and her popstar alter ego, Duff’s assertion couldn’t be further from the truth.

Speaking with TMZ, Poryes defended his creation in a new interview, insisting Duff’s “Lizzie McGuire,” which aired from 2001 to 2004, was not the inspiration for “Hannah Montana” in “any shape or form.”

Poryes explained that there was “zero” inspiration from Duff’s early 2000s character, noting that he’d only seen two episodes of the show’s 65 and never saw the movie either.

Poryes called “Lizzie McGuire” a “clever” show and credited it for helping him create other successful programs, such as “That’s So Raven.” Despite that, though, he maintained that “Hannah Montana” was 100% his idea.

During a conversation with Vanity Fair, Duff reflected on some of her most memorable characters, from Lizzie to her role in “A Cinderella Story.” At one point, Duff referenced the scene in the “Lizzie McGuire Movie” where she takes the stage as a popstar and sings “What Dreams Are Made Of.”

Duff theorized that the success of the scene and the song may have been the catalyst for Disney to develop a similar story for the network.

“Hannah Montana, she’s a normal girl, but she’s a singer at night,” Duff said. “So, I think that Disney knew they were tapping into something when this worked so well. They were like, ‘A normal girl turning into a pop star.’ I’m sure it was some source of inspiration.”

Duff’s comments about “Hannah Montana” arrive at an interesting time, as Miley Cyrus has previously admitted to working on something special for the show’s 20th anniversary. While the details have been kept under wraps, the “Flowers” singer recently teased the project, saying she was “working hard” for the big reveal.

According to The Blast, Cyrus also shared her thoughts on a younger actress reprising the role for a potential reboot down the line. “I don’t know if there is a new Hannah,” she said. “This is the only Hannah.”

“For me, I love looking back at the growth for both of us because it’s very rare that someone grows up with their fanbase,” Cyrus continued. “When I was 15 years old, I’d look out and see 15-year-olds and now I’m a grown woman, I look out and see other grown people. So what I want to do is honor the longevity of the relationship that we built.”

Cyrus has always been candid about how much playing the lead role in her own sitcom meant to her and how it helped shape her career. After starring in nearly 100 episodes, a feature film, and massive world tours, by the time Cyrus concluded her run as Hannah, the Tennessee native had become a full-fledged superstar.

“Without Hannah, there really wouldn’t be this…me,” Cyrus said in a previous interview. “It’s so crazy to think that I started as a character that I thought would be impossible to shed, and now, that’s something that when I walk into a space, it’s looked at as this sense of nostalgia or something that you have from your childhood. But now, I’ve sort of been integrated into everyone’s life as the character has.”