Friends star reveals father’s refusal to watch show over lesbian character

A Friends actress has reflected on her “groundbreaking” storyline and revealed her father’s “heartbreaking” refusal to watch the series over her lesbian character.

After premiering in 1994 and making household names out of its stars, which included Jennifer Aniston, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc, Friends cemented itself as a sit-com classic. The early seasons offered rarely-seen lesbian representation onscreen, as Ross (David Schwimmer) navigated post-divorce life with his ex-wife Carol (Jane Sibbett) and her partner Susan (Jessica Hecht).

In episode 11 of season two, which originally aired in January 1996, Carol and Susan break the news that they getting married and invite Ross to attend the wedding. Although Ross is initially hesitant, a catering disaster means that he and Monica (Courtney Cox) must provide the food for the wedding and he soon comes around.

Actress Sibbett made history with her Friends lesbian character and was a part of the first-ever televised lesbian wedding. At the time, the historic moment was subjected to backlash, with the scene being banned in some countries and on several channels in the US. 

The actress said that although she was grateful to play the “groundbreaking” character, she experienced “stress” behind the scenes. Her father was unwilling to watch the show for years because of her character’s sexuality. Instead, her father held a bible study group on the nights that his daughter’s series aired in order to prevent close friends from seeing the show.

In an interview with The Sun, Sibbett said: “It was groundbreaking for a lesbian character on TV but also for how Carol and Ross handled divorce and co-parenting without fighting. It was a gift.

“It caused stress in my own family,” Sibbett said. “We had a big situation with my father who wouldn’t watch the show. Thankfully he came around to it in the end.

“It was heartbreaking that he wouldn’t watch it…It took my godfather writing a letter to him saying how proud he was of me for the wedding scene that cracked it for my father… It was great for that wound to be healed before my dad passed.”

Despite Friends‘ impact, it wasn’t always on the mark when it came to LGBTQ+ representation. Chandler’s trans parent, played by Kathleen Turner, was regularly rolled out for cheap transphobic laughs.

Even Carol’s identity as a lesbian was considered enough to regularly cue the laugh track, centred around Ross’s discomfort – although Sibbett has previously said that the show was “never poking fun at being gay”.