Jennifer Aniston Acknowledges 'Problematic' Humor on 'Friends'

"Friends" star Jennifer Aniston acknowledged in recent comments that some of the beloved '90s sitcom's humor is problematic in today's cultural landscape.

BuzzFeed News reported that, speaking with the French press while in Paris to promote the Netflix movie "Murder Mystery 2," Aniston said, "Comedy has evolved, movies have evolved. 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."

Aniston advocated for comedy in a time of deep social division, declaring, "Everybody needs funny! The world needs humor! We can't take ourselves too seriously. Especially in the United States. Everyone is far too divided."

Still, the star of the long-running sitcom – which enjoyed 10 seasons on NBC, racking up 236 episodes between 1994 and 2004 – noted that times have changed, reflecting on how, in decades 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. And now we're not allowed to do that."

More specifically, 29 years after the show's premiere – and 19 years since it first aired its final episode – "There's a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of 'Friends' and find them offensive," Aniston said. "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."

BuzzFeed noted that the series has "faced lots of criticism for its lack of diversity and for relying on homophobia and body-shaming (among other things) as a source of punchlines."

Last year, Marta Kauffman, who created the show together with David Crane, offered a mea culpa on the way "Friends" dealt with the transgender parent of one of the main characters.

"We kept referring to her as 'Chandler's father,' even though Chandler's father was trans," Kauffman recalled, before explaining, "Pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So we didn't refer to that character as 'she.' That was a mistake."

At the same time, the show has faced censorious cuts in the international market, with China removing references to the lesbian ex-wife of another character, among other deletions.