Friends’ Adam Goldberg Calls Out The Show’s Lack Of Diversity

Friends alum Adam Goldberg recently looked back at the sitcom with a critical eye. In a new interview with The Independent, the actor recalled play Eddie Menuek for three episodes in Season 2.

The character of Eddie is introduced in the aptly titled 1996 episode, “The One Where Eddie Moves In.” He becomes Chandler (Matthew Perry)’s new roommate after Joey (Matt LeBlanc) moves into his own place amid his early Days of Our Lives success. Though Eddie initially seems like a good roommate — to the point Joey feels replaced — his erratic behavior increasingly alarms Chandler and he has to move out.

While Goldberg said he is pleased to have made a “small but offbeat contribution” to Friends, he said the show’s lack of diversity “seems insane” in retrospect.

“I’ve heard Black people speak about this and it’s like, you never expected to see yourself, so when you didn’t, it was not a surprise, and you ended up identifying to characters, irrespective of their race,” he told The Independent. “It was just the norm that there was such a lack of diversity ... the entire culture was like that, and television was just an amplification of that culture.”

Goldberg also shared another gripe he has with the show, adding, “How the hell do these people afford to even live in New York?” He continued, “Their apartment is massive, and it’s an incredibly unrealistic portrayal of New York. I’m not even 100 percent sure I knew it took place in that city.”

Reexamining Friends

This isn’t the first time someone involved in Friends has addressed the show’s lack of diversity.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, showrunner Kevin Bright said the sitcom probably wouldn’t have “an all-white cast” if it were airing today.

Fellow showrunner Marta Kauffman also addressed comments about the show’s diversity in 2022. “Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago.”

Despite the areas where Friends fell short, Goldberg told The Independent he is “so happy” to be part of Friends’ legacy and paid tribute to the show’s cast.

“I think about all those guys, and how incredible someone like Jennifer Aniston is, who’s managed to have this really pretty expansive career,” he added. “It’s really remarkable because I think it must be very, very, very hard to have been part of something that was so insanely popular and not solely be identified by it.”