25 Years Later, Friends Fans Are Still Divided Over Ross’ Ex Emily

Friends just might be the most timeless conversation topic of all time. Over three decades after the sitcom first premiered, there are still pressing plot points that are debated ad nauseam over Thanksgiving and girls’ nights: whether Ross and Rachel were on a break if Joey and Rachel were a good idea, and yes, even Ross’ ex-wife Emily.

25 years ago, Ross met British expat Emily Waltham on Season 4, proposed to her not long after, and had his entire family and friends fly to London for their wedding, only to say Rachel’s name at the altar. It didn’t take long into Season 5 for them to finally divorce, but everything that happened in between divided fans when it came to Emily.

In a recent Reddit post, one user declared that Emily was “unfairly made the villain” in her love triangle with the show’s perennial on-and-off couple Ross and Rachel, arguing that Ross was truly the worst person in that situation — especially after he offered Rachel to take her place on their planned honeymoon.

“It would be humiliating to have your fiancé/husband say their ex-girlfriend’s name during your wedding vows,” they wrote. “Then you find your husband about to go on your honeymoon with her. That would really mess you up.”

However, not everybody agreed.

Why Emily Was The Villain

While virtually nobody can defend Ross saying Rachel’s name at the altar, many fans expressed how they didn’t like Emily before the wedding, even if they felt sympathy for her after, pointing to when she wanted to cancel the ceremony after everyone had flown to London.

“Among other things, it would be insane to get relatives and friends to take time off work and pay to fly to another country, and then say ‘nm, it’s not perfect so you’ll have to come back another time thanks byeeee!’” one user argued.

“I never liked her in general,” another fan added. “She was rude as hell right from the beginning and seemed to have an awful attitude about America. Her whole personality was just annoying.” One fan even went as far as to say that Emily was “not a nice person” and listed every reason why.

“Expecting all the relatives to go home just so she could get married in that spot she wanted? Selfish,” they wrote. “Asking Ross never to see someone from his very tight-knit friend group again? Also insane... I totally understand her being devastated after what happened, but ghosting him and then demanding he get rid of his stuff and move was immature as hell.”

Why Emily Was In The Right

Some fans weren’t even aware that others thought of Emily as a villain. “I thought this was common knowledge,” one fan commented. Others continued to defend Emily’s honor, pointing out that she had “every right to be upset” at Ross.

“I don’t think it was unreasonable for her to never want Ross to see Rachel again, if they wanted the marriage to work,” one fan argued.

However, one had a different outlook on who the true villain was. “I think Rachel here is the one who’s completely out of line,” they remarked. Though she planned to tell Ross she loved him on his wedding day, she didn’t go through with it.