Jennifer Aniston: Younger Generations Find 'Friends' Offensive

Jennifer Aniston believes that comedy in today's climate can be tricky, and this is evident by how younger generations perceive episodes of "Friends" as "offensive."

The actor made the comment while promoting her latest movie, Netflix's "Murder Mystery 2," during an interview.

"There's a whole generation of people, kids, who are now going back to episodes of 'Friends' and find them offensive," Aniston said, according to Yahoo!

"There were things that were never intentional and others, well, we should have thought it through," she continued. "But I don't think there was a sensitivity like there is now."

Aniston played the role of Rachel Greene for 10 seasons in the hit 1990s series "Friends," which follows a group of six white, heterosexual friends living in New York. The show has come under fire for its lack of diversity.

"Comedy has evolved; movies have evolved," Aniston, said. "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 pointed out that, in the past "you could joke about a bigot and have a laugh."

"That was hysterical," she said. "And it was about educating people on how ridiculous people were, and now we're not allowed to do that."

"Friends" co-creator Marta Kauffman previously addressed criticism over the show for rarely featuring characters of color, telling the Los Angeles Times that it was initially "difficult and frustrating" to hear what critics were saying. For years she felt as if "Friends" was being singled out, but she has since changed her perspective.

"I've learned a lot in the last 20 years," Kauffman said. "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 previously spoke about the backlash "Friends" has faced over the years, saying in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that at the time they did not even register its lack of diversity.

"There are many things that I could say if I only knew then what I know now," Kauffman said in 2021. "Back then, there was no conscious decision. We saw people of every race, religion, color. These were the six people we cast."

Kauffman admitted she would change "a hundred things" if given the opportunity.

"I've talked about it in the past, and I do have very strong feelings about my participation in a system, but it comes down to I didn't know what I didn't know," she said.