Friends star Lisa Kudrow has criticised the writers of the sitcom, alleging that they were “brutal” to cast members and discussed “sexual fantasies” about female stars.
Speaking in a new interview with The Times, the star claimed she had to endure some “mean stuff” from the writing staff who were “mostly men,” during her 10-season run on the NBC sitcom.
Kudrow, who starred as Phoebe Buffay in the show, said the writers often reprimanded the cast for forgetting lines.
“There was definitely mean stuff going on behind the scenes,” Kudrow alleged. “Don’t forget we were recording in front of a live audience of 400, and if you messed up one of these writers’ lines or it didn’t get the perfect response they could be like, ‘Can’t the bitch fucking read? She’s not even trying. She fucked up my line.’”
She added that, in the writers’ room, “the guys would be up late discussing their sexual fantasies about Jennifer Aniston and Courteney [Cox]. It was intense.”
Kudrow also went on to say: “Oh, it could be brutal, but these guys – and it was mostly men in there – were sitting up until 3am trying to write the show so my attitude was, ‘Say what you like about me behind my back because then it doesn’t matter.’ ”
The writing staff that worked on Friends and NBC have yet to comment publicly on Kudrow’s allegations.
In 1999, a sexual harassment court case was brought by the writers’ assistant Amaani Lyle, whose job it was to transcribe brainstorming sessions. She alleged that she was shocked to hear Friends writers discussing sleeping with Aniston and Cox, feigning masturbation and receiving oral sex.
The Supreme Court eventually ruled against Lyle after deciding coarse demeanour was a necessary part of the work environment, according to Variety.
Elsewhere, Kudrow recently said new sitcoms are too risk-averse, arguing that comedy requires surprise.
She argued that she wasn’t drawn to new multi-camera sitcoms, and said she thinks it’s down to the fact that new shows are “too afraid” to make jokes that make audiences “uncomfortable.”