Zoe Kravitz has criticised the “super homophobic” humour in Friends in a new interview.
The sitcom, which became the biggest show on television and a defining comedy of the period, has in recent years been critiqued for outdated jokes about the LGBTQ+ community as well as a lack of diversity.
Last year, cast member Aisha Tyler said the demographic of the cast reflected the attitude at the time that “only white stories sold”.
Criticism has also been levelled at Queer-themed storylines such as Chandler (Matthew Perry) worrying he is being perceived as gay, and another surrounding his transgender parent (played by Kathleen Turner).
In 2020, David Schwimmer, who played Ross in the show, refuted the criticism, saying the show was “groundbreaking” for the time.
Zoe Kravitz, however, saw the show differently. During a People interview promoting her new film, Caught Stealing, which is set in 1998, she was asked what parts of the era she would like to leave behind.
“Super homophobic jokes on mainstream television” she replied. If you watch Friends now, you’re like, ‘Whoa, that’s….’”. Co-star Austin Butler asked: “Wow, even in Friends?”, to which Kravitz replied: “Oh, so much in Friends. Like, things that aren’t punchlines are punchlines. It’s wild. So maybe that? We can keep that there.”
Earlier this year, Stephen Park, an actor who appeared in two episodes of the sitcom, recalled a moment where a crew member made a racist remark on the set of the show. “It was at the time, I felt it was kind of a toxic environment” he claimed.
Last month, Jasveen Sangha – the so-called ‘Ketamine Queen’, who was charged with supplying the dose of the drug that killed Friends star Matthew Perry in October 2023 – agreed to plead guilty in court.
