“Friends” is a huge part of American pop culture, but its legacy has been subject to critique for many years because of the TV show’s lack of diversity. Now, more than 25 years after it first aired, one of the show’s creators is speaking out.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman admitted her guilt over the series’s shortcomings.
The TV writer intends to effect change and this is demonstrated in part by a $4 million donation she has made to her alma mater of Brandeis University nine miles outside of Boston, Massachusetts, to establish an endowed professorship in the university’s African American studies department.
“I’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years,” Kauffman said in the interview published Wednesday. “It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago.”
According to Marta Kauffman, she is embarrassed about the lack of diversity in Friends sitcom.
USA TODAY has requested comment from Brandeis University. The show ran from 1994 to 2004 and centered the friendship and romance between six friends living in New York City. Although the main characters were all white, people of color were sometimes seen on screen in small supporting roles. This includes Gabrielle Union, Lauren Tom, and Aisha Tyler, who played love interests in the series during its time on air.
In other words, The Friends reunion is everything that fans expected it to be. Although initially resistant to criticism, Kauffman said that in 2020, following the murder of George Floyd by police, her opinion changed.
“I began to wrestle with my having bought into systemic racism in ways I was never aware of,” Kauffman said. “That was really the moment that I began to examine the ways I had participated. I knew then I needed to course-correct.”
Beyond the multi-million donation, Kauffman also said she’ll also be taking her efforts to the entertainment industry.
“I want to make sure from now on in every production I do that I am conscious in hiring people of color and actively pursue young writers of color,” Kauffman said. “I want to know I will act differently from now on. And then I will feel unburdened.”
‘I was well aware’:David Schwimmer’s comments on ‘Friends’ diversity – and ‘Living Single’ star Erika Alexander’s response
Kauffman is not the only person who was from Friends production to speak of the backlash it faced. In 2020, David Schwimmer, who played Ross on the sitcom, stated that he pushed for diversity on set in an interview with The Guardian. Hollywood Reporter interviewed executive producer Kevin Bright and asked him if if Friends aired today, would the cast be all white. Bright replied, I don’t imagine they would probably end up being an all-white cast.
