Lisa Kudrow says ‘Friends’ creators had ‘no business’ writing about people of color

Lisa Kudrow has addressed the lack of diversity on hit sitcom Friends, saying the show’s white creators had “no business” writing stories about people of color (POC).

In her latest interview for The Daily Beast, Kudrow, 59, who portrayed the character of Phoebe Buffay in the hit sitcom, Kudrow said the show’s creators, David Crane and Marta Kauffman wrote the series about their own personal lives and did not have the experiences of being a person of color.

Friends, which ran from 1994 until 2004, has been repeatedly called out for its predominantly white cast.

“Well, I feel like it was a show created by two people who went to Brandeis and wrote about their lives after college. And for shows especially, when it’s going to be a comedy that’s character-driven, you write what you know,” she said

“They have no business writing stories about the experiences of being a person of color,” she added. At that time, Kudrow said, “the big problem that I was seeing was, ‘Where’s the apprenticeship?’”

Kudrow’s latest comments come after Friends co-creator Kauffman recently donated $4million to create a fund supporting scholars studying African and African American Studies at Brandeis University.

Announcing the fund in June, Kauffman told the Los Angeles Times that she was “embarrassed” by not understanding criticisms of the show in the past.