{"id":237459,"date":"2026-04-29T15:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T15:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/lisa-kudrow-says-friends-stars-still-earn-20-million-a-year-from-reruns-streaming\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T15:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T15:09:15","slug":"lisa-kudrow-says-friends-stars-still-earn-20-million-a-year-from-reruns-streaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/lisa-kudrow-says-friends-stars-still-earn-20-million-a-year-from-reruns-streaming\/","title":{"rendered":"Lisa Kudrow Says &#8216;Friends&#8217; Stars Still Earn $20 Million a Year From Reruns, Streaming"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading Time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Lisa Kudrow has been spilling some incredible tea about her <em>Friends<\/em> days this week.<\/p>\n<p>Some of it is nauseating, like Kudrow\u2019s claim that some of the show\u2019s writers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2026\/04\/lisa-kudrow-friends-writers-fantasies-jennifer-aniston-courteney-cox\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sexually fantasized about Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But some of the remarks Lisa has made during her current press tour have fans applauding the beloved actress for securing the bag.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><noscript><\/noscript><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"694\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2189504214-1024x694.jpg\" alt=\"Lisa Kudrow attends Netflix's &quot;No Good Deed&quot; Screening &amp; Conversation at 92NY on December 11, 2024 in New York City. \" class=\"wp-image-553914 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2189504214-1024x694.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2189504214-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2189504214-768x520.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2189504214-2048x1387.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2189504214-960x650.jpg 960w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2189504214-1080x732.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2189504214-1200x813.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 760px) calc(100vw - 20px), 720px\" data-pin-media=\"https:\/\/cdn.thehollywoodgossip.com\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2189504214-scaled.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" data-trellis-processed=\"1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lisa Kudrow attends Netflix\u2019s \u201cNo Good Deed\u201d Screening &amp; Conversation at 92NY on December 11, 2024 in New York City. <span class=\"image-caption-credit\"> (Photo by Jamie McCarthy\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Yes, more than two decades after <em>Friends<\/em> signed off, the paychecks are still rolling in. And, according to Kudrow, they are nothing short of staggering.<\/p>\n<p>In a new interview the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/article\/96c0ec0d-c83b-498a-9cda-3fa6d772ddf7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Times of London<\/a><\/em>, Kudrow revealed that she and the surviving five members of the iconic sitcom\u2019s cast still earn about <em>$20 million a year<\/em> in residuals from the show\u2019s syndication and streaming success.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, you read that correctly: $20 million per year.<\/p>\n<p>Kudrow, who played the eccentric masseuse and folk singer Phoebe Buffay, even joked about the jaw-dropping number when asked why the checks remain so large.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Phoebe Buffay was so great?\u201d she replied when asked why still earns so much from the character.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lisa Kudrow Details Alleged \u201cBrutal\u201d Behavior of Friends Writers | E! News\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/SWzFZuZhtZY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Of course, the truth is that the long-term financial windfall is rooted in <em>Friends<\/em>\u2018 historic popularity, as well as the groundbreaking deal that the cast negotiated during the show\u2019s final seasons. <\/p>\n<p>By the end of the series, the six stars had secured $1 million per episode along with a 2 percent share of syndication profits, a move that continues to pay off 22 years after the finale aired.<\/p>\n<p>Kudrow revealed that she only started rewatching the series following the 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2025\/02\/matthew-perry-received-27-shots-of-ketamine-in-the-days-before-his-death-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">death of Matthew Perry<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And she says that rewatching it gave her a renewed appreciation for what the cast created.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore, I only saw what I did wrong or could have done better. But for the first time, I truly appreciated just how great it was,\u201d she poignantly revealed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt I did OK, but Jennifer and Courteney? Amazing. David and Matt? They had me laughing so hard. And then Matthew \u2014 he was just beyond us all.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Phoebe&#039;s 10 Funniest Iconc Quirks | Friends\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/M5KASY2Utc4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cBefore, I only saw what I did wrong or could have done better,\u201d she continued, adding:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut for the first time, I truly appreciated just how great it was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kudrow went on to praise her fellow cast members individually, singling out Perry in especially heartfelt terms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt I did OK, but Jennifer and Courteney? Amazing. David and Matt? They had me laughing so hard. And then Matthew \u2014 he was just beyond us all,\u201d Kudrow said\/<\/p>\n<p>The actress also shared why she believes <em>Friends<\/em> continues to resonate with younger viewers who were not even born when the show originally aired.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>Friends<\/em> captured a kind of innocence that maybe a younger generation has never gotten to experience,\u201d she speculated.<\/p>\n<p>The show continues to enjoy a sort of cultural staying power is almost unheard of. And apparently, so is the paycheck.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehollywoodgossip.com\/2026\/04\/lisa-kudrow-says-friends-stars-still-earn-20-million-a-year-from-reruns-streaming\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reading Time: 2 minutes Lisa Kudrow has been spilling some incredible tea about her Friends days this week. Some of it is nauseating, like Kudrow\u2019s claim that some of the show\u2019s writers sexually fantasized about Courteney Cox and Jennifer Aniston. But some of the remarks Lisa has made during her current press tour have fans [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":237462,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-237459","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hollywood"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}