David Schwimmer, known for playing ‘Ross’ on the NBC sitcom ‘Friends’, is facing backlash due to comments he made in a recent interview with The Guardian.
While discussing the younger generations’ issue with its all-white cast, Schwimmer responded in support of the show, saying, “You have to look at it from the point of view of what the show was trying to do at the time. I’m the first person to say that maybe something was inappropriate or insensitive, but I feel like my barometer was pretty good at that time. I was already really attuned to social issues and issues of equality.”
He continued by adding if there were to be a reboot of the series, it should be an all-black or all-Asian cast.
However, for years it has been known that ‘Friends’ is a direct copy of Fox Networks Show ‘Living Single,’ which features an African American cast.
So when Black twitter got ahold of Schwimmer’s comments, they were quick to remind him that ‘Living Single’ was the black ‘Friends.’
One Twitter user wrote, “As my good friend @DavidDTSS said “white people will steal your stuff and be so committed to the crime that they forget they stole it and think they’re gifting you something they shouldn’t have had in the first place,” while another wrote, “But Friends is the store brand version of Living Single,” as another added, “Friends was an all-white reboot of Living Single.”
One user responded, stating, “The Black Community already has that it’s called Living Single,” along with a gif from the show with the caption, “Once we give ourselves the respect we deserve, we empower ourselves to be free.”
Once ”Living Single” started trending, Streaming platform Hulu even joined in on the conversation adding, “also… Living Single has the best theme song, don’t @ me,” as they informed fans that they have the show on their platform.
Erika Alexander, who plays Maxine Shaw on ‘Living Single,’ also added her two cents, directly writing Schwimmer, stating, “Hey @DavidSchwimmer @FriendsTV – r u seriously telling me you’ve never heard of #LivingSingle? We invented the template! Yr welcome, bro.”
Back in 2016, Queen Latifah, star of ‘Living Single,’ confirmed rumors that ‘Friends’ is a replica of ‘Living Single’ in an interview on ‘The Late Late Show With James Corden.’ ”It was interesting because when ‘Living Single’ came out, shortly thereafter Warren Littlefield, who was president of NBC, they asked him if he could any show on television, any of the new shows, which one would it be and he said ‘Living Single.’ It was in the newspaper and the next thing you know, here comes ‘Friends,’ which was an amazing show and they did a great job with it, so I mean if you gone rock it, that’s the way to do it.”
Schwimmer has yet to speak out following the backlash from his comments.
