After former star Lisa Kudrow stated that the series would not have had an 'all-white cast' today, Marta Kauffman admits during the virtual 2020 ATX Television Festival that she 'didn't do enough.'
- Jun 9, 2020
AceShowbiz - "Friends" co-creator Marta Kauffman struggled to hold back her tears as she admitted she "didn't do enough" to promote diversity within the television industry.
The 63-year-old writer made the confession as she opened the virtual 2020 ATX Television Festival on Sunday (June 07), telling viewers, "I wish I knew then what I know today."
As her eyes filled with tears, Marta continued, "Sorry, I just wish I knew then what I know now. I would've made very different decisions. I mean we've always encouraged people of diversity in our company, but I didn't do enough and now all I can think about is what can I do? What can I do differently? How can I run my show in a new way? And that's something I not only wish I knew when I started showrunning, but I wish I knew all the way up through last year."
Marta's admission comes after "Friends" star Lisa Kudrow recently opened up about the lack of diversity on the show, which ran from 1994 to 2004, insisting that had the show aired today, it wouldn't have had an "all-white cast."
One of the only black characters in the show was David Schwimmer's character Ross Geller's girlfriend, palaeontology professor Charlie Wheeler, played by Aisha Tyler.
And David admitted during an interview with Britain's The Guardian newspaper that Charlie was introduced after a push from him for more diversity on the program.
"I was well aware of the lack of diversity and I campaigned for years to have Ross date women of color," he said. "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."
