Gabrielle Union is set to host an all-black reading of a Friends episode featuring Sterling K. Brown, Ryan Michelle Bathe, and 2020 Emmy winner Uzo Aduba.
Aisha Hinds, Kendrick Sampson, and Jeremy Pope will also take on roles in the virtual event, directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield.
The classic sitcom, which starred Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, and David Schwimmer, has recently come under scrutiny for its lack of diversity, prompting Schwimmer and creator Marta Kauffman to confess there should have been more people of color on the show.
The news of Union’s reading comes two weeks after Tracee Ellis Ross, Regina King, Alfre Woodard, and Sanaa Lathan came together for a virtual, all-black reading of a Golden Girls episode.
The Friends reading will be staged to highlight the work of the When We All Vote organization and will take place on Zoom as part of the Zoom Where It Happens series on Monday (September 21, 2020) at 6 pm ET.
