Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman has apologized for the lack of diversity on the hit 90s sitcom.
The show, which premiered in 1994, has in recent years copped backlash for the lack of people of color in its cast - especially considering the series is set in multicultural New York City.
Having initially referred to the criticism as "difficult and frustrating", she has now confessed to feeling so "embarrassed" that she has pledged $4 million to Brandeis University, she told The Los Angeles Times in an interview on Wednesday.
The 65-year-old TV writer and producer has pledged the hefty amount to fund an endowed chair at the university's African and African American studies department.
“I’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years,” Kauffman told The Times. “Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago.”
Kauffman and her co-creator David Crane had an all-white cast in Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Matt LeBlanc, and Matthew Perry. The six beloved characters rarely dated, befriended or even interacted with people of color.
“It took me a long time to begin to understand how I internalized systemic racism,” Kauffman said. “I’ve been working really hard to become an ally, an anti-racist. And this seemed to me to be a way that I could participate in the conversation from a white woman’s perspective.”
Per a statement, Kauffman's fund is set to "support a distinguished scholar with a concentration in the study of the peoples and cultures of Africa and the African diaspora."
Her co-creator Kevin Bright has remained adamant about his casting choice for Friends, saying he "would have been insane not to hire those six actors".
Kauffman, on the other hand, has been doing a lot of reflecting over the years - and has received a positive response as a result.
“I’ve gotten nothing but love,” Kauffman told the outlet. “It’s been amazing. It surprised me to some extent, because I didn’t expect the news to go this wide. I’ve gotten a flood of emails and texts and posts that have been nothing but supportive. I’ve gotten a lot of ‘It’s about time.’ Not in a mean way. It’s just people acknowledging it was long overdue.”