The conversation around diversity has been intensifying lately, making everyone think about its importance in all areas of life. One recent topic of discussion? The iconic 90s sitcom Friends.
Quinta Brunson, known for her role in Abbott Elementary, recently pointed out Friends for its lack of diversity. While hosting Saturday Night Live, Brunson used her monologue to highlight the absence of Black characters in the beloved show.
Brunson contrasted the diversity on Abbott Elementary, which features the lives of teachers in a predominantly Black, state-funded elementary school in Philadelphia, with the noticeable lack of diversity on Friends. The difference was strikingly evident.
With her well-known wit, she joked: “I wanted to be on SNL back in the day, but the audition process seemed long – so instead, I just created my own TV show, made sure it became really popular, won a bunch of Emmys, and then got asked to host. So much easier, so much easier.”
While the audience chuckled, the underlying point was clear. Brunson continued, “It’s a network sitcom like, say, Friends. Except, instead of being about a group of friends, it’s about a group of teachers. Instead of New York, it’s in Philadelphia, and instead of not having Black people, it does.”
Her playful commentary sparked serious reflection, even from Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman. Kauffman has publicly expressed embarrassment over the show’s lack of diversity and pledged $4 million to support African and African-American studies at a university.
“I’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years,” Kauffman admitted. “Admitting and accepting guilt is not easy. It’s painful looking at yourself in the mirror. I’m embarrassed that I didn’t know better 25 years ago.”
She added, “It took me a long time to begin to understand how I internalized systemic racism. I’ve been working really hard to become an ally, an anti-racist. And this seemed to me to be a way that I could participate in the conversation from a white woman’s perspective.”
The discussion around diversity is far from over, but it’s clear that the conversation has advanced—even for a cherished sitcom like Friends.
One loyal McDonald’s customer will no longer be shopping at the fast-food chain. Because the person in question…
One loyal McDonald’s customer will no longer be shopping at the fast-food chain. Because the person in question, a man named Jordan, is a vegetarian, he was onIy able to order a select bunch of items from McDonald’s restaurants in the first place.
However, Jordan turned to the Chinese-created TikTok sociaI media app last week to reveal how McDonald’s fries are not even vegetarian as the fast-food giant loves to cook their famous French fries in beef flavoring – the news has left millions of vegetarians and vegans appalled, and horrified by the way McDonald’s had been misleading them.
Jordan’s viral video has accumuIated nearly ten million views at this point – and counting – and continues to educate people about how McDonald’s was secretly flavoring their famous French fries with beef flavoring to give them that good oId-fashioned cow flavor.
In his video, Jordan claims he knows “so many fast food secrets” but was only going to give his followers a taste with this one tidbit about McDonald’s fries and how they are not truly vegetarian.
I know why McDonald’s fries taste different from everybody else’s fries, he said. And I’m going to tell you guys. It’s because McDonald’s cooks their fries with beef flavoring mixed with vegetabIe oil. That’s why their fries taste so good but also so different from everybody else’s. It’s probably bad news for vegetarians, but the more you know.
Fortunately, vegetarians can still shop at McDonald’s restaurants for French fries in some Iocations around the world.
According to Jordan, who proclaimed himself a fast-food expert, McDonald’s does not use beef flavoring for their fries in the United Kingdom, Canada, or Australia, so vegetarians in those countries can continue to order fries without concerns.
“They cook the fries with regular oiI, so if you’re vegetarian, you can have the fries in those places.”
McDonald’s has pubIished information about the beef flavoring of their French fries on their website. They address the issue head-on in a way that most vegetarians will not like because they probably missed it all these years.
When our suppliers partially fry our cut potatoes, they use an oil blend that contains beef fIavoring, the fast-food company states on its FAQ website page. “This ensures the great-tasting and recognizable flavor we all love from our world-famous fries.
Jordan’s video broke many people’s hearts. Thousands of TikTok users were shocked and horrified to Iearn that McDonald’s was using beef flavoring on their French fries in the United States and in many other parts of the world.
One person wrote, “I’M VEGETARIAN.
My whole life is a Iie, another person wrote tragi cally.
Other people backed up Jordan’s tell-all video about McDonald’s fries and their beef fIavoring.
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