The highly-anticipated Friends reunion has been criticized by fans for featuring zero Black actors in cameos.
In a post made to its official Twitter account on Thursday, May 13, HBO Max - the network due to air the new episode - tweeted a list of celebrities, actors, and other stars that are set to make a cameo in the reunion.
Set to make an appearance in the reunion special are: James Corden, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Cindy Crawford, Cara Delevingne, Lady Gaga, Elliot Gould, Larry Hankin, Mindy Kaling, Kit Harington, Christina Pickles, Tom Selleck, Thomas Lennon, Maggie Wheeler, James Michael Tyler, Malala Yousafzai, and Reese Witherspoon.
However, on social media, this list proved to be controversial. Although the special does boast a number of POC cameos, there are no African-American performers involved.
What's more, actress Aisha Tyler, who portrayed love interest Dr. Charlie Wheeler for nine episodes of the original series, was not included in the list of attendees.
One Twitter user wrote "Ah yes. FRIENDS. After convincing us that NYC has no Black or Brown people in it for 9 seasons, they issue a reunion with 25 celebs and somehow evade finding a single Black person. [sic]"
Meanwhile, someone else wrote: "I do think that although it wouldn’t stop racism, I believe greater inclusion is a way to help all races feel at least more included. One out of 25 guest stars couldn't be Black?"
Another Twitter user added: "The premise of the Friends reunion episode will be: the Friends still don't know any Black people."
Another fan chimed in: "Friends reunion! So many new friends! None of 'em Black! [sic]"
While another wrote: "I see that Friends reunion has the same number of Black folks as the original show. Consistency I guess??"
This is not the first time lack of diversity has been a talking point about the sitcom. Back in 2020, cast member Lisa Kudrow commented on the subject in an interview with The Sunday Times.
When asked by the publication what would change about the show if it had been made today, Kudrow replied: "It would not be an all-white cast, for sure."
Kudrow went on: "I'm not sure what else, but, to me, it should be looked at as a time capsule, not for what they did wrong.
"This show thought it was very progressive. There was a guy whose wife discovered she was gay and pregnant, and they raised the child together. We had surrogacy too."
The Friends reunion special is due to air on HBO Max on May 27, 2021, and will see Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry, and David Schwimmer reunite.
