David Schwimmer probably meant well when he spoke out on the lack of diversity on set but when he said, “Maybe there should be an all-black Friends sitcom,” Living Single fans and casts immediately spoke out.
While talking about diversity, the Friends star fail to remember that Friends was actually an all-white version of hit show Living Single, that ran for 5 seasons since August 22, 1993. (Note: Friends first episode aired September 22, 1994. They ran for 10 seasons.)
Here’s David’s remarks about the lack of diversity.
via The Guardian
Friends is also a product of the pre-“woke” era when it comes to race. “Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends,” Schwimmer says. “But I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of colour. One of the first girlfriends I had on the show was an Asian American woman, and later I dated African American women. That was a very conscious push on my part.”
Erika Alexander, who played Maxine Shaw on Living Single, responded to David on social media.
Hey @DavidSchwimmer @FriendsTV – r u seriously telling me you’ve never heard of #LivingSingle? We invented the template! Yr welcome bro. 😉 David Schwimmer 2 The Guardian: “Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends” https://t.co/r8W1ZHBwoy
— Erika Alexander (@EAlexTheGreat) January 28, 2020
Erika also asked her former castmates to help school him.
@DavidSchwimmer 4 yr edutainment. Help me school him @IAMQUEENLATIFAH @kimcoles @KimVFields #TCCarson #JohnHenton @warnerbrostv #elvisdidntinventrocknroll https://t.co/MRJQBnULlU
— Erika Alexander (@EAlexTheGreat) January 28, 2020
Cast member Queen Latifah, who played Khadijah James on the sitcom, spoke on this last year — confirming that Friends was a rip-off from Living Single.
David responded to Erika’s tweet:
— schwim (@DavidSchwimmer) January 29, 2020
Both Living Single and Friends were great shows but we must give credit to where credit is due.
So what do y’all think? Is this a matter of David being tone-deaf to what’s going on in the black community? Maybe he just simply forgot. Or is this really editing done by the Guardian? Leave us a comment below.
