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She\u2019s there for you! Jennifer Aniston<\/strong><\/a> reflected on the criticism surrounding her hit show Friends<\/em><\/a> \u2014 and claimed comedy has changed over time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of\u00a0Friends<\/em>\u00a0and find them offensive,\u201d Aniston told AFP<\/em><\/a> in an interview published earlier this week.<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span>\u201cThere were things that were never intentional and others \u2026 Well, we should have thought it through, but I don\u2019t think there was a sensitivity like there is now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Murder Mystery<\/em> star explained that it has become \u201ctricky\u201d for comedians<\/a> over the years. \u201cYou\u2019ve to be very careful,\u201d she said, adding that \u201cthe beauty of comedy is that we make fun of ourselves\u201d and \u201cmake fun of life.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c[In the past], you could joke about a bigot and have a laugh \u2014 that was hysterical. And it was about educating people on how ridiculous people were,\u201d she told the outlet. \u201cAnd now we\u2019re not allowed to do that.\u00a0Everybody needs funny! The world needs humor! We can\u2019t take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Aniston starred as Rachel Green on the NBC sitcom from 1994 to 2004 alongside Matthew Perry<\/strong><\/a>, Lisa Kudrow<\/strong><\/a>, Courteney Cox<\/strong><\/a>, David Schwimmer<\/strong><\/a> and Matt LeBlanc<\/strong><\/a>. While the show has maintained status as both a critical and fan darling, it has faced criticism for its absence of diversity. (Throughout its 10 season run, Friends<\/em> only introduced two recurring characters who were people of color.)<\/span><\/p>\n In August 2022, Kudrow, 59, who portrayed Phoebe Buffay on the comedy, reflected on why creators Marta Kauffman<\/strong><\/a> and David Crane<\/strong> might have struggled to write more diverse story lines.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI feel like it was a show created by two people who went to Brandeis and wrote about their lives after college,\u201d the Opposite of Sex<\/em> star told\u00a0The\u00a0Daily Beast<\/em><\/a> at the time. \u201cAnd for shows especially, when it\u2019s going to be a comedy that\u2019s character-driven, you write what you know. They have no business writing stories about the experiences of being a person of color.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kathleen Turner<\/strong><\/a>, who played the part of Chandler Bing\u2019s transgender parent on Friends<\/em>, told The Guardian<\/em><\/a> in January that she probably would \u201cnot\u201d have taken the role if it were offered to her today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere was no question of casting a trans person or a drag queen\u00a0[for the part]\u00a0\u2026 it was never considered,\u201d the actress, 68, claimed. \u201cIt never crossed my mind that I was taking a role from someone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Kauffman, meanwhile, got candid about missteps she made while writing the character<\/a> in July 2022, telling BBC World Service\u2019s The Conversation<\/em>, \u201cPronouns were not yet something that I understood<\/a>, so we didn\u2019t refer to that character as \u2018she.\u2019 That was a mistake.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She later made a $4 million donation to her alma mater, Brandeis University, to fund an endowed chair in the school\u2019s African and African American studies department.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAdmitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It\u2019s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I\u2019m embarrassed that I didn\u2019t know better 25 years ago,\u201d\u00a0Kauffman told The Los Angeles Times<\/em><\/a> at the time. \u201cI 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. I want to know I will act differently from now on. And then I will feel unburdened.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She added, \u201cI\u2019ve gotten nothing but love. It\u2019s been amazing. It surprised me to some extent because I didn\u2019t expect the news to go this wide. I\u2019ve gotten a flood of emails and texts and posts that have been nothing but supportive. I\u2019ve gotten a lot of \u2018It\u2019s about time.\u2019 Not in a mean way. It\u2019s just people acknowledging it was long overdue.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n