David Schwimmer Responds to Allegations Over Friends' Lack of Diversity, Sexist Jokes & More

David Schwimmer is responding to allegations that Friends has instances of sexism, transphobia, fat shaming, and more in episodes that aired from 1994-2004.

Examples fans have brought up in the past include constant jokes about Monica’s (Courteney Cox) weight and Ross asking the male nanny if he is gay.

“I don’t care. The truth is also that show was groundbreaking in its time for the way in which it handled so casually sex, protected sex, gay marriage and relationships. The pilot of the show was my character’s wife left him for a woman and there was a gay wedding, of my ex and her wife, that I attended,” David told The Guardian. David played Ross on the show.

He continued, “I feel that a lot of the problem today in so many areas is that so little is taken in context. You have to look at it from the point of view of what the show was trying to do at the time. I’m the first person to say that maybe something was inappropriate or insensitive, but I feel like my barometer was pretty good at that time. I was already really attuned to social issues and issues of equality.”

“Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends,” he continued. “But I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of colour. One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part.”

“It’s interesting also how the show handled the Judaism of the characters,” David added. “I don’t think that was earth-shattering or groundbreaking at all, but I for one was glad that we had at least one episode where it wasn’t just about Christmas. It was also Hanukkah and, even though I played the Hanukkah armadillo, I was glad that we at least acknowledged the differences in religious observation.”

David also added, “I’m very aware of my own privilege as a heterosexual white male whose parents were able to pay for a private education for me. I’ve always felt a sense of responsibility to give back and to call things out if I see an abuse of power.”

Those hoping for a Friends reunion special might be upset by this news.