Erika Alexander Recalls Apologetic Call from David Schwimmer After His Comments About “Living Single ”(Exclusive)

When it comes to nan loyalty and emotion fans person for Living Single, Erika Alexander learned successful existent clip conscionable really viewers of nan show are protective of nan classical series. 

Back successful 2020, Alexander, 55, recovered herself successful nan mediate of an X, past Twitter, “beef” pinch David Schwimmer aft nan Friends character mistakenly implied that, because of nan occurrence of his show, location "should beryllium an all-Black Friends” aliases an “all-Asian Friends” during an question and reply pinch The Guardian.

The remark was successful reply to really Friends, successful its 2nd resurgence successful nan streaming era, was receiving immoderate disapproval for immoderate of its problematic elements, i.e. nan deficiency of diversity, homophobia, sexism, etc.

In actuality, Living Single preceded Friends and aired connected Fox opening August 1993. According to Alexander, nan NBC president astatine nan clip revealed he wished he had bought nan hilarious sitcom. A twelvemonth later, successful September 1994, Friends premiered connected his web and became a juggernaut. 

The parallels were undeniable. Both shows followed a group of six azygous group — 2 of them related — arsenic they navigated nan ups and downs of careers, making love and trying to fig retired life. Both shows besides featured a signature flat arsenic nan main guidelines for nan friend group. 

So, pinch each that history successful context, erstwhile Alexander caught upwind of Schwimmer’s interview, she felt compelled to respond, and that group disconnected a firestorm that neither statement had anticipated. 

“I was astounded,” Alexander says of nan onslaught of support that came to her and nan show’s defense. “That's erstwhile I saw nan powerfulness of nan Black Twitter universe.”

“He had made a remark — and he's a bully dude, by nan way, and he apologized for not knowing — but he made a comment, unknowingly, that possibly 1 day, because of nan occurrence of Friends, location would beryllium possibly a Black aliases Asian Friends,” she explains to PEOPLE exclusively. 

“I happened to beryllium astatine Sundance astatine nan time, and I was getting connected a level and personification had made it known. And actually, my partner astatine Color Farm [Media], Ben Arnon, was like, ‘Yo, you've sewage to reply this. You person to nonstop it backmost a tweet.’ And I wasn't a large tweeter for illustration that, truthful I was like, ‘Nah, he astir apt didn't [mean it],' Arnon's like, ‘You've sewage to,’” she continues.  

“So I sat location correct earlier nan level took off, sent it and erstwhile nan level landed, and I took a look, it was a Twitter war. People were like, ‘Get it, Queen.’ There was immoderate rallying cry.”

Because of nan speech nan X speech had sparked, Alexander realized location needed to beryllium a deeper mentation astir nan effect of Schwimmer's statements and what they connote for creatives of color. 

“I sewage a telephone from Medium, and they were like, ‘You request to constitute a communicative astir this,’ and past I realized I would request to, because going backmost and distant pinch David Schwimmer, and past now astir apt his PR, was not going to do it. And I needed to put it successful nan abstraction of a analyzable speech astir why it mattered what he said. So I ended up having to constitute an essay, an article astir it, and put that out,” she says. 

The effort lives connected Medium to this day.

Things betwixt her and Schwimmer are bully though, nan character expresses.

“[He] sewage successful interaction pinch maine personally and said, ‘Listen, I meant nary disrespect.’ And I said, ‘I cognize you didn't,’ and I said, ‘I meant nary [either].’ I was conscionable answering that to say, possibly you didn't cognize that you are nan achromatic Living Single.” 

Through it each though, Alexander is grateful for really nan fans rallied down her and protected nan groundwork that Living Single laid for Friends and nan galore akin sitcoms that followed.

“And truthful to our people, convey you, I admit nan backup. If Gladys Knight has her Pips, we person our Living Single [fans]. Let maine show you, it was real.”

Alexander and erstwhile costar Kim Coles precocious relaunched their “official unofficial” rewatch podcast, ReLiving Single, wherever they not only beryllium down, rewatch nan episodes and dissect nan show together, but they besides springiness fans immoderate behind-the-scenes tidbits astir everything that was going connected off-camera.

“People are loving it," Alexander says of nan feedback. "There's comments if you spell to YouTube — we are besides connected Spotify and different places wherever you tin spot it — but there's a speech going each nan clip and feedback loop is powerful. I deliberation group understand that this show is for them and anyone who loves bully storytelling, hopefully a bully conversation, bully vibes,” Alexander says. 

“I deliberation fans will consciousness very correct astatine location because they travel for nan reasons that they emotion nan show. And hopefully they get to meet Kim and I successful a different measurement aliases a more, let's say, a restorative measurement that's not conscionable nan characteristic but ourselves.”