Quinta Brunson calls out ‘Friends’ for lack of diversity in ‘SNL’ monologue

Quinta Brunson made her hosting debut on Saturday Night Live this weekend and she wowed the crowd with her hilarious dig at Friends.

During her opening monologue, Brunson spoke about her ‘dream come true’ moment as she appeared on SNL. The Emmy winner, 33, went on to speak about her 'unique' TV show, Abbott Elementary, which she described as like Friends.

Addressing the success of her series, Brunson revealed that the show is focused on a group of teachers at a poorly funded predominantly Black school in Philadelphia.

“I wanted to be on SNL back in the day but the audition process seemed long – so instead, I just created my own TV show, made sure it became really popular, won a bunch of Emmys and then got asked to host,” she quipped, adding: “So much easier, so much easier.”

Bunson then described Abbott Elementary by comparing it to Friends, stating: “It’s a network sitcom like, say, Friends. Except, instead of being about a group of friends, it’s about a group of teachers. Instead of New York, it’s in Philadelphia and instead of not having Black people, it does.”

Friends has been criticized in recent years for only featuring non-white actors in significantly smaller roles.

Co-creator Marta Kauffman acknowledged the criticism in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, saying: “It took me a long time to begin to understand how I internalised systemic racism.”