{"id":941578,"date":"2026-05-06T13:07:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:07:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/941578\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T13:07:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:07:20","slug":"friends-star-lisa-kudrow-bluntly-wades-into-intense-fan-debate-he-was-horrible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/941578\/","title":{"rendered":"Friends star Lisa Kudrow bluntly wades into intense fan debate: \u2018He was horrible!\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"sc-1uza6dc-1 eRQajs\">Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong>Read more<\/p>\n<p>Were they on a break? It\u2019s the age-old question that\u2019s plagued <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/friends\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Friends<\/a> viewers for almost 30 years \u2013 and now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/lisa-kudrow\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lisa Kudrow<\/a> has given her blunt verdict.<\/p>\n<p>Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay in the long-running Nineties sitcom, was asked about the plotline in which Ross Geller (David Schwimmer) slept with another woman while going through a rough patch with girlfriend Rachel Green (Jennifer Aniston).<\/p>\n<p>Ross later makes it clear he believed he and Rachel had broken up at the time of his encounter with Chloe. Rachel, however, disagrees and considers that Ross\u2019s behaviour amounts to cheating.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-06-at-10-22-21.png\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Were Ross and Rachel on a break? \u2018Friends\u2019 fans have debated this since the 1990s\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>Were Ross and Rachel on a break? \u2018Friends\u2019 fans have debated this since the 1990s (NBC)<\/p>\n<p>Throughout the show, the sentence \u201cwe were on a break\u201d is uttered several more times, becoming one of the sitcom\u2019s most memorable one-liners.<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not he actually was is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/news\/friends-david-schwimmer-ross-rachel-breakup-episode-we-were-on-a-break-a9631336.html\">the source of intense debate<\/a>, and Kudrow has now waded in, stating: \u201cIt\u2019s beyond break or not. He was a bad boyfriend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Kudrow admitted she was afraid to discuss the contentious topic, but when the audience applauded, she said in relief: \u201cOh, you agree! Oh, I feel better. Thank you. Thank you for this. Thank you, all of you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kudrow continued: \u201cShe shouldn\u2019t have gotten back with him because he was horrible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me, it\u2019s like, I don\u2019t care if he slept with three other women or no other women. You had a crisis at work, so you weren\u2019t available for a few nights, and he flipped out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screenshot-2026-05-06-at-10-19-55.png\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Lisa Kudrow waded into the Ross and Rachel debate on \u2018The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\u2019\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>Lisa Kudrow waded into the Ross and Rachel debate on \u2018The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon\u2019 (YouTube)<\/p>\n<p>When asked if Schwimmer, who previously defended Ross\u2019s actions, shared this view, Kudrow said: \u201cHe knows now.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Kudrow recently <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/arts-entertainment\/tv\/news\/friends-lisa-kudrow-phoebe-buffet-writers-room-b2965359.html\">opened up about the \u201ctense\u201d scrutiny<\/a> faced by Friends\u2019 female cast members, also including Courteney Cox (Monica), due to the mostly male writers\u2019 room.<\/p>\n<p>More than 20 years on from Friends\u2019 finale, Kudrow, who currently stars in HBO sitcom The Comeback, told The Times there was \u201cmean stuff going on behind the scenes\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t forget we were recording in front of a live audience of 400, and if you messed up one of these writers\u2019 lines or it didn\u2019t get the perfect response, they could be like, \u2018Can\u2019t the bitch f***ing read? She\u2019s not even trying. She f***ed up my line\u2019,\u201d Kudrow said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd we know that back in the room, the guys would be up late discussing their sexual fantasies about Jennifer and Courteney. It was intense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She added that while it \u201ccould be brutal\u201d, the writers were up all night writing on the sitcom. \u201cThese guys \u2013 and it was mostly men in there \u2013 were sitting up until 3am trying to write the show, so my attitude was, \u2018Say what you like about me behind my back because then it doesn\u2019t matter\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":941579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3940],"tags":[4080,77,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-941578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116527789914788215","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}