According to Jennifer Aniston, “Friends” has offended a “whole generation” today

According to Jennifer Aniston, “Friends” has offended a “whole generation” today. Jennifer Aniston is reportedly reflecting on “Friends” now feeling out of step with the times. The actress was promoting her new Netflix film “Murder Mystery 2,” costarring Adam Sandler, when the topic came up. Comedy has evolved, movies have evolved,” Aniston told AFP in Paris, where the film is set.

“Now it’s a little tricky because you have to be very careful, which makes it really hard for comedians, because the beauty of comedy is that we make fun of ourselves, make fun of life,” Aniston said.

She also touched on how much the culture has changed since “Friends” debuted in 1994.

“There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of ‘Friends’ and find them offensive,” Aniston said. “There were things that were never intentional and others… well, we should have thought it through – but I don’t think there was a sensitivity like there is now.”

The show’s lack of diversity has long been a hot topic. Series co-creator Marta Kauffman expressed remorse about it last year.

“Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy,” Kaufman told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago.” There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of Friends and find them offensive,” she said.

“There were things that were never intentional and others … well, we should have thought it through … but I don’t think there was a sensitivity like there is now.” Aniston is not alone among comedians or comic actors in suggesting progressivism and sensitivity have become deterrents to creativity. Comedians including Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle have recently called out

A comedy about the lives of six young New Yorkers, three men and three women, Friends ran on NBC between 1994 and 2004. It made stars out of its cast and remains hugely popular but Aniston said newfound sensitivities were in play.

“There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of Friends and find them offensive,” she said.

“There were things that were never intentional and others … well, we should have thought it through … but I don’t think there was a sensitivity like there is now.”

Aniston is not alone among comedians or comic actors in suggesting progressivism and sensitivity have become deterrents to creativity. Comedians including Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle have recently called out “woke culture” for, they say, limiting what jokes are tolerable. In turn, both have been called out for offensive jokes and for sets challenging “wokeness”.

Some viewers have criticized Friends for a lack of diversity. All the main characters are white and the show rarely featured people of color. Others have noted jokes now seen to be homophobic or transphobic.

A co-creator of the show has expressed guilt about its lack of diversity.

“Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy,” Marta Kauffman told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago.”

Kauffman said she had donated $4m to create a professorship program at Brandeis University, to “support a distinguished scholar with a concentration in the study of the peoples and cultures of Africa and the African diaspora”.