{"id":123992,"date":"2024-09-09T20:35:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-09T20:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/09\/friends-alum-adam-goldberg-criticizes-the-shows-lack-of-diversity\/"},"modified":"2024-09-09T20:35:02","modified_gmt":"2024-09-09T20:35:02","slug":"friends-alum-adam-goldberg-criticizes-the-shows-lack-of-diversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/09\/friends-alum-adam-goldberg-criticizes-the-shows-lack-of-diversity\/","title":{"rendered":"Friends Alum Adam Goldberg Criticizes the Show’s Lack of Diversity"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n Adam Goldberg, Matthew Perry.<\/span> NBC<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Adam Goldberg<\/strong><\/a> looks back at his time on Friends<\/em><\/a> with fondness, he also recognizes criticism the show has received in the 30 years since it first premiered.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of diversity, looking back, it seems insane,\u201d Goldberg, 53, stated in an interview with The Independent<\/em><\/a> published on Sunday, September 8. \u201cI\u2019ve heard Black people speak about this and it\u2019s like, you never expected to see yourself, so when you didn\u2019t, it was not a surprise, and you ended up identifying to characters, irrespective of their race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldberg went on to say that having a lack of diversity on TV was \u201cthe norm\u201d at the time, adding, \u201cI spent a lot of my career complaining about how Italians can play Jews. You see [Robert] De Niro play Jews, but you very rarely see someone who\u2019s a known Jewish actor playing Italian. So that\u2019s where my head was at.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cOr I would get feedback about not being all-American enough, which, you know, if you were to say that to somebody now you\u2019d probably be fired. Or maybe not, because all-American has become such a derisive term. But yes, the entire culture was like that, and television was just an amplification of that culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tRelated: <\/span>‘Friends’ Cast: Where Are They Now?<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tOn September 22, 1994, TV audiences got six new pals with the cast of the hit NBC series\u00a0Friends. Now, decades later, we\u2019ve watched\u00a0Jennifer Aniston\u00a0(Rachel Green),\u00a0Courteney Cox\u00a0(Monica Geller),\u00a0Lisa Kudrow\u00a0(Phoebe Buffay),\u00a0Matt LeBlanc\u00a0(Joey Tribbiani),\u00a0Matthew Perry\u00a0(Chandler Bing) and\u00a0David Schwimmer (Ross Geller) take on numerous other roles through the years. The friend group went from aimless 20-somethings to grown-ups with [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Goldberg famously played Chandler\u2019s (Matthew Perry<\/strong>) eccentric roommate, Eddie, in three episodes of Friends<\/em> in 1996. Eddie took over Joey\u2019s (Matt LeBlanc<\/strong>) room in the apartment after he got his own place thanks to his Days of Our Lives<\/em> salary. Eddie and Chandler\u2019s personalities quickly clashed, resulting in Chandler ordering him to move out.<\/p>\n

Despite his criticisms, Goldberg told the outlet that he\u2019s \u201cso happy to be part of the show\u2019s legacy,\u201d adding, \u201cI am glad that I had a small but offbeat contribution to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goldberg is one of many stars to acknowledge criticism of Friends<\/em> over the years, particularly when it comes to jokes about weight, the LGBTQIA+ community and diversity among the cast.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of Friends<\/em> and find them offensive<\/a>,\u201d Jennifer Aniston<\/strong>, who starred as Rachel Green, told AFP<\/em><\/a> in March 2023. \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<\/p>\n

Without addressing specific story lines or characters, Aniston, 55, noted that it\u2019s become \u201ctricky\u201d for comedians to make certain jokes. \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 said. \u201cAnd now we\u2019re not allowed to do that. Everybody needs funny! The world needs humor! We can\u2019t take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tRelated: <\/span>‘Friends’ Most Memorable Guest Stars<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tToday, the cast of Friends are A-listers on their own. Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer rose to massive fame during the show, which aired on NBC for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. From the start, the sitcom drew the attention of celebrities \u2014 and landed some [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Friends<\/em> cocreator Marta Kauffman<\/strong> expressed regret over the way the show depicted Chandler\u2019s transgender parent<\/a> (played by Kathleen Turner<\/strong>). \u201cWe kept referring to [Helena] as \u2018Chandler\u2019s father,\u2019 even though Chandler\u2019s father was trans,\u201d she said in a July 2022 interview with BBC World Service\u2019s The Conversation<\/em><\/a>. \u201cPronouns were not yet something that I understood, so we didn\u2019t refer to that character as \u2018she.\u2019 That was a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

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