Jennifer Aniston: ‘A whole generation’ now finds ‘Friends’ offensive

So no one told Jennifer Aniston life was gonna be this way.

The show that catapulted her to fame is now widely viewed as unfriendly and even offensive, a tragedy for comedy, she recently said.

“Comedy has evolved, movies have evolved,” Ms. Aniston told Agency France-Presse this week promoting her new Netflix film “Murder Mystery 2.”

The New York-set “Friends” debuted in 1994 and not only were all six principal cast members White but there were few minorities even in recurring and supporting roles.

“There’s a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of ‘Friends’ and find them offensive,” she said, though she didn’t specify the grounds for offense-taking herself.

But Ms. Aniston said that while the show should have done better, its failures weren’t intentional.

“There were things that were never intentional and others … well, we should have thought it through. But I don’t think there was a sensitivity like there is now,” she said.

And these contemporary sensitivities have made comedy difficult, even with the best of intentions.

“Now it’s a little tricky because you have to be very careful, which makes it really hard for comedians, because the beauty of comedy is that we make fun of ourselves, make fun of life,” Ms. Aniston said.

In the past, “you could joke about a bigot and have a laugh — that was hysterical. And it was about educating people on how ridiculous people were,” she said. “Now we’re not allowed to do that.”

“The world needs humor! We can’t take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided,” she said.