David Schwimmer didn’t mean any offense. The Friends alum, 53, took to Twitter on Wednesday, January 29, to respond to the backlash that he received by pitching an “all-black Friends or an all-asian Friends,” instead of a revival.
In late January, he told The Guardian that the show was groundbreaking in many ways during its time on-air and he didn’t care about the comments that the sitcom didn’t age well.
“Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends,” the Laundromat actor told the magazine. “But I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of [color]. 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.”
Actress Erika Alexander tweeted the article on January 28 with a message to the actor. “Hey @DavidSchwimmer @FriendsTV – r u seriously telling me you’ve never heard of #LivingSingle? We invented the template! Yr welcome bro. ;),” she wrote before adding, “David Schwimmer 2 The Guardian: ‘Maybe there should be an all-black Friends or an all-Asian Friends.'”
Living Single, which aired on Fox from 1992 to 1998, followed the lives of six African American friends living in Brooklyn. Friends aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004. However, Friends wasn’t based on Living Single, Schwimmer pointed out in a lengthy response.
“As you know, I was asked recently in an interview for The Guardian how I felt (for the thousandth time) about a reboot of Friends immediately following a conversation about diversity on the show, and so offered up other possibilities for a reimagining of the show today. I didn’t mean to imply Living Single hadn’t existed or indeed hadn’t come before Friends, which I knew it had,” he shared, adding that sometimes quotes are “pieced together” and later “repurposed” by others.
“I was a fan of Living Single, and was not implying Friends was the first of its kind. To my knowledge, Friends (which came out a year later) was inspired by [series creators] Marta [Kaufmann] & David [Crane]’s own lives and circle of friends living in NY in their twenties. If it was based on Living Single you’d have to ask them,” the American Crime Story alum continued. “It’s entirely possible that Warner Brothers and NBC, encouraged by the success of Living Single, gave the Friends pilot a green light. I honestly don’t know, but seems likely! If that’s the case, we are all indebted to Living Single for paving the way.”
He ended his tweet with an apology. “In any event, if my quote was taken out of context, it’s hardly in my control,” Schwimmer wrote. “I assure you I meant no disrespect.”
