Actor Adam Goldberg Calls Out Friends For Its ‘Unrealistic’ Lack Of Diversity

When the television show about a close-knit group of friends in New York City debuted in 1994, it was an immediate hit. It was produced by Marta Kauffman and David Crane.

Even after ending in 2004, Friends has continued to be a cult favorite ever since.

Over the years, the sitcom’s lack of diversity has drawn a lot of criticism, despite its widespread popularity. Now, one of the stars has spoken out.

New York is renowned for its diversity, which includes a wide range of racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. According to Date USA, the city’s population is as follows: 14.4% Asian (non-Hispanic), 14.2% Other (Hispanic), 6.3% White (Hispanic), 31.2% White (non-Hispanic), and 21% Black or African American (non-Hispanic).

However, all six of the major characters in the sitcom, which is set in a city with a diverse population, are white, and persons of other races and ethnicities only appear in supporting roles on occasion.

Starring in nine episodes overall, Aisha Tyler was the first Black actress to have a recurring role in the series. She portrayed Dr. Charlie Wheeler, a professor of paleontology who collaborated with Ross (played by David Schwimmer) and later dated him.

Schwimmer stated in a 2020 interview with Entertainment Tonight that he thought the lack of more diverse cultural representation on the show was “just wrong.”

“I truly felt that Ross should date other people, women of all races,” the actor stated.

The Los Angeles Times quoted co-creator Kauffman as saying that it was “difficult and frustrating” at the time that Friends was being singled out for its lack of diversity. However, she has had a change of heart in recent years.

The only black actor to appear repeatedly in the series was Aisha Tyler. NBC is credited.
Since then, Kauffman has stated that the reason the comedy didn’t succeed in being more inclusive was because she had absorbed institutional racism, which she only realized when George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police and the Black Lives Matter movement began in 2020.

It is difficult to acknowledge and accept guilt, according to the co-creator. Looking at oneself in the mirror hurts. I feel ashamed that I was ignorant twenty-five years ago.

Kauffman went on: “I started to struggle with the fact that I had unknowingly contributed to systematic racism following what occurred to George Floyd.

 

“I really started looking at the ways I had contributed at that point. I realized then that I needed to change my direction.

Since then, Kauffman has committed $4 million to a professorship in the African and African American studies department at Brandeis University in the Boston area.

But Kauffman and Schwimmer aren’t the only series fans who have voiced their opinions; another beloved character recently admitted that the show lacks diversity.

Adam Goldberg has voiced his disapproval of Friends’ lack of diversity.
Adam Goldberg, who played Chandler’s short-term, slightly odd roommate Eddie, has also made a statement.

He is regarded as one of the show’s most recognizable characters even though he only appeared in three episodes.

He discussed his generally favorable experience working on the show in an interview with the Independent, but he also stated that, in retrospect, it is evident to him that the series does not accurately depict the people of New York.

“How the hell do these people afford to even live in New York?” was one critique, according to Goldberg. Their enormous apartment is a wildly exaggerated representation of New York.

“And in terms of diversity, looking back, it seems insane,” the actor went on. It’s like you never expected to see yourself, so it wasn’t shocking when you didn’t, and you ended up associating with characters regardless of their race, according to what I’ve heard Black people say about this.

Adam Goldberg played Eddie, the roommate of the late Matthew Perry’s character.

Goldberg claims that as a Jewish guy, he spent most of his “career complaining about how Italians can play Jews” since it was “the norm that there was such a lack of diversity” at the time.

“You hardly ever see a well-known Jewish actor playing Italian,” he added.

“I would get feedback about not being all-American enough, which, you know, if you were to say that to somebody now you’d probably be fired,” the Dazed and Confused star went on.

“The entire culture was like that, and television was just an amplification of that culture,” according to Goldberg.