Lisa Kudrow Reveals Disturbing FRIENDS Detail That ‘Fantasized’ Jennifer Aniston & Courteney Cox

The beloved TV show, FRIENDS, was not as fun behind the scenes as fans would like. Lisa Kudrow, in a recent interview with The Times, revealed some horrific details about the writing staff.

Kudrow played Phoebe Buffay on the show, who was working on her own terms and remained extremely loyal to all her friends. She shared the behaviour of writers who were “mostly men” and how they rebuked the cast for forgetting their lines.

The actress shared the many mean things that the writers talked about behind-the-scenes. She detailed how they used to shoot live in front of the audience, and if they made a mistake, the writers used to say,

‘Can’t the b*tch f**king read? She’s not even trying. She f**ked up my line.’

Here is everything else she shared!

What Did Lisa Kudrow Reveal About The FRIENDS Writing Staff?

Kudrow further revealed disturbing details about how the writers’ room would fantasize about her co-stars, Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green, and Courteney Cox, who played Monica Geller.

However, the actress did not pay any attention to it as it was horrible behaviour behind closed doors. She continued,

Oh, it could be brutal, but these guys — and it was mostly men in there — were sitting up until 3 a.m. trying to write the show so my attitude was, ‘Say what you like about me behind my back because then it doesn’t matter.‘

The disturbing part is that the actress only felt comfortable sharing this decades later, even though there was a case filed back in the 2000s against the writers’ room behavior. Her silence suggests how normalized this behavior was as the cast went on to do ten seasons of the show.

Amaani Lyle, who worked on the show in 1999, had filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. Television for the illicit behaviour of the writers’ room. However, she lost the case when, in 2006, the California Supreme Court sided with Warner Bros. Television in a unanimous 7-0 ruling, determining that the s-xually explicit talk in the writers’ room was a creative necessity for producing an adult-oriented comedy and did not constitute actionable harassment.

Who Were The Male Writers Behind Friends?

The writing team included both men and women; however, the male writers behind the scenes were as follows: Scott Silveri, Jeff Greenstein, Jeff Astrof, Mike Sikowitz, Andrew Reich, Greg Malins, Adam Chase, Michael Borkow, Michael Curtis, and Bill Lawrence.

Even the co-creator, David Crane, also served as a writer for the hit sitcom. Despite giving fans a show they love, it becomes difficult to love it after knowing these harrowing details.

Kudrow’s character, Phoebe, was the heart of the show in many ways. She brought in her quirkiness and made the show so much fun. It is now heartbreaking to know what went on behind the scenes, and yet the cast was successful in bringing out the best in their characters.

Kudrow felt the need to reveal this years later, after suggesting she tried to make sense of this, rather than vocalizing it. This showcases how ingrained the culture was and how women in the industry were treated back in the day, even on the sets of something wholesome and funny.

Info	Key Details
Name of the show	Friends (1994-2004)
Creators	David Crane, Marta Kauffman
Main Cast	Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, Courteney Cox
IMDb Rating	8.8/10

Does knowing the reality behind the scenes change how you view the FRIENDS legacy? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

All seasons of FRIENDS are available to stream on HBO Max.