Friends creator apologises for using male pronouns for trans role

The co-creator of Friends has apologised for using male pronouns to describe a main character's parent.

During an interview with The Conversation on the BBC World Service, Marta Kauffman, 65, who co-created the show with David Crane, has spoken about her regret at the representation of Chandler Bing's transgender parent, Charles Bing, who was played by Kathleen Turner.

Kauffman said: "We kept referring to her [Chandler's transgender parent] as Chandler's father, even though Chandler's father was trans.

"Pronouns were not yet something that I understood. So we didn't refer to that character as she. That was a mistake."

Kauffman, who is also the creator of Netflix hit Grace And Frankie, said she now strived to create inclusive and diverse workplaces.

Grace And Frankie follows two women who have always been rivals until they have to join forces after they learn that their husbands have fallen in love with each other and want to get married.

"It's very important to me that where we are is a safe place, a tolerant place, where there's no yelling," said Kauffman.

"I fired a guy on the spot for making a joke about a trans cameraperson. That just can't happen."

'I'll never make that mistake again'

On how she deals with criticism of the show, Kauffman told presenter Kim Chakanetsa: "Friends has been criticised in a number of ways. The biggest one being that we did not have enough representation of black people.

"And over the course of the last few years I've gotten to the point where I can say unfortunately yes, I am guilty of that. And I'll never make that mistake again.

"I was clearly part of systemic racism in our business. I was unaware of that, which makes me feel stupid. That was a very valid, extremely difficult criticism which still... I get emotional about."

Last week, Kauffman donated $4 million to her alma mater’s African American department and apologised for the “embarrassing” whiteness of the cast.

She said the killing of George Floyd made her reflect on the lack of diversity in the cast.

“That was really the moment that I began to examine the ways I had participated. I knew then I needed to course-correct,” she said.