A gross mark of its time.
Lisa Kudrow, the beloved Phoebe Buffay, has broken her silence on the “mean stuff” churning beneath the sitcom’s iconic orange couches.
In a raw new interview, Kudrow alleges the show’s mostly male writing staff was relentlessly cruel, publicly berating cast members who fumbled a single line in front of 400 live audience members.
One frustrated writer reportedly sneered, “Can’t the bitch fucking read?” But the toxicity ran deeper.
Kudrow recalls late-night brainstorming sessions that devolved into vivid discussions of “sexual fantasies” about her co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox.
While Kudrow adopted a thick skin, the allegations echo a 1999 harassment case.
A writers’ assistant had previously sued over similar lewd remarks, though the Supreme Court ultimately ruled coarse banter as a necessary evil of the creative process.
NBC and the show’s writers have yet to respond to Kudrow’s claims.
