“I’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years,” Kauffman says. “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 says her reflection came after the George Floyd protests in June 2020, which caused her to re-evaluate the lack of diversity in the ‘90s sitcom’s cast.
“It was after what happened to George Floyd that I began to wrestle with my having bought into systemic racism in ways I was never aware of,” Kauffman says. “That was really the moment that I began to examine the ways I had participated. I knew then I needed to course-correct.”
The discussion of Friends’ all-white main cast has been ongoing, especially as the series has been added to streaming services for a new audience to experience. In recent years, there have even been unofficial versions of the sitcom with an all-black cast. In 2020's Zoom Where It Happens, there was a reading of an episode that featured Sterling K. Brown, Ryan Michelle Bathe, Aisha Hinds, Jeremy Pope, Uzo Aduba, and Kendrick Sampson as the close-knit Friends group.
In the original series, Aisha Tyler was the only prominent actor of color; she played Charlie Wheeler in nine episodes on the show. Any other time that an actor of color appeared on the series, they were often relegated to a more supporting character spot like with Gabrielle Union, Lauren Tom, and Craig Robinson.
Kauffman’s $4 million will go towards creating the Marta F. Kauffman ‘78 Professorship. According to Brandeis University’s website, the donation will help “support a distinguished scholar” within the African and African American Studies department and allow for more academic opportunities and funds for the program.