Friends has been reimagined with an all-Black cast for a new charity table read series.
The event which saw the iconic show receive a 2020 makeover was the second in a new series called Zoom Where It Happens.
Zoom Where It Happens was created to support Michelle Obama’s non-profit organisation When We All Vote, which aims to “increase participation in every election and close the race and age voting gap by changing the culture around voting.”
The Friends table read featured an all-star cast of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour actors, including Orange Is The New Black‘s Uzo Aduba as Phoebe, This Is Us‘ Sterling K Brown as Ross, Ryan Michelle Bathe as Rachel, Aisha Hines as Monica, Kendrick Sampson as Joey and Jeremy Pope as Chandler.
The event saw the group perform ‘The One Where No One’s Ready’, a memorable episode from the show‘s third season.
The event comes after a friend of a former Friends guest star alleged she wasn’t invited back on the show after joking about the cast’s lack of diversity.
Actor Sheri Shepherd played a museum tour guide in season four’s ‘The One With Phoebe’s Uterus’, and earlier this year her friend, media personality Jawn Murray, claimed Shepherd had sent around a card announcing her appearance on the show with the caption “Friends gets a little colour.”
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Speaking on ABC News Live, Murray went on to reveal Shepherd was “never asked back on the show” after also sending the card to the show’s creator, Marta Kaufmann.
Murray’s claim came after Kauffman apologised for the lack of diversity on the show back in June, saying she “wish [she] knew then what [she knows] today.”
“Sorry, I just wish I knew then what I know now… I would’ve made very different decisions,” she said.
Watch a clip from the Zoom Where It Happens Friends table read:
What’s your #VotingPlan ✊? I love Us. I love #BlackPeople ✊?????? #Friends with @SterlingKBrown @ryanmichelle @UzoAduba @AishaHinds @kendrick38 @jrmypope. #CynthiaErivo • @StephanieAllain Producing @itsgabrielleu Hosting @sallirichardson Directing #ZoomWhereItHappens pic.twitter.com/dJf8chPoZ7
— Mickaëlle X. Bizet (@MickaelleXBizet) September 23, 2020