Friends: The Reunion provided the much-anticipated dose of nostalgia that Friends aficionados had been patiently awaiting for years. No one expected to see the ensemble share the screen together following the conclusion of the show. However, the reunion special turned this almost-lost dream into reality. With a quarter of America tuning in on its streaming day, The Reunion clinched a People’s Choice Award for Best Pop Special in 2021. But it was apparently not a smooth sail. 

Not many would know that the reunion almost did not happen because of an alleged beef between Jennifer Aniston and Marta Kauffman.

Courteney Cox became the mediator between Jennifer Aniston and Marta Kauffman

Friends had become the sitcom everyone was talking about by the time it rolled its ninth season. This led the cast of six to unite in demanding a hefty paycheck of $1 million each from the makers. However, Marta Kauffman was not entirely on board with this. She labeled the demand as “ridiculous” during the 2015 Critics Association Summer Press Tour. According to Radar sources, this sparked tension between Aniston and Kauffman as the actress felt that the showrunner was not supporting the cast’s profit percentage.

Reportedly, Courteney Cox stepped up as the mediator to smooth things between Aniston and Kauffman ahead of the reunion. Cox proposed a dinner meet-up for both parties to cool things down. If the tension between the two persisted, it would have been uncomfortable for both to be in the same room in the reunion, potentially leading to its cancellation. Even Matthew Perry shed light on the equal pay demand in his book and thanked the cast member who played a key role in making it a reality. 

Matthew Perry shared the entire journey of the cast’s battle for equal pay in his memoir, Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing. 

How did the Friends cast get their deserved fee? 

At the start of Friends, David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston were the highest-paid actors among the cast. And it was them, particularly Schwimmer, who became instrumental in implementing the equal pay system in Friends. As per Matthew Perry, Schwimmer reached out to him suggesting to renegotiate their contracts as a team and demand equal fees. This decision brought the cast together and empowered them to battle a “myriad of stressful network negotiations”. 

“I owe you about $30 million, David”, wrote Perry in his book who also went on record talking about the guilt that came with this hefty paychek. The fight was worth it because, by the final season, the stars were earning $1,100,040 an episode. Even Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow spoke about this on The Howard Stern Show in 2021. They shared that throughout the tumultuous period, the cast supported each other, finally compelling the showrunners to give them what they deserved.

What do you think about the alleged feud between Jennifer Aniston and Marta Kauffman? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!