Did 'Friends' writers struggle with diversity? Lisa Kudrow says 'they had no business writing about people of color'
HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES: Lisa Kudrow shared her thoughts on the reason why the writers of the cult TV series 'Friends' may have struggled with diverse characters. The 59-year-old who played Phoebe Buffay on the show said the show's creators, David Crane and Marta Kauffman, had "no business" telling stories about people of color given their backgrounds.
“Well, I feel like it was a show created by two people who went to Brandeis and wrote about their lives after college,” Kudrow said in an interview with The Daily Beast. “And for shows especially, when it’s going to be a comedy that’s character-driven, you write what you know. They (Crane and Kauffman) have no business writing stories about the experiences of being a person of color. “I think at that time, the big problem that I was seeing was, ‘Where’s the apprenticeship?’” she added.
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'I'm embarrassed': 'Friends' creator Marta Kauffman pledges $4M for show's lack of diversity
This comes after Marta told the Los Angeles Times that she felt embarrassed and guilty over the iconic show's lack of diversity that she donated $4 million to her alma mater, Brandeis University to create the Marta F Kauffman ’78 Professorship in African and African American Studies. “I’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years. Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy, " she told the media outlet. "It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago."
The George Floyd murder also had its influence on Kauffman. “I knew then I needed to course-correct,” she explained. “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,” said the 'Grace and Frankie' co-creator said. “I want to know I will act differently from now on. And then I will feel unburdened,” she added. 'Friends' followed the lives of six young adults living in Manhattan, as they navigated the adventures that their lives both troublesome and fun at the same time.
