The One with Matthew Perry Really Crossing the Line in Friends Blooper
Friends has been labeled problematic a bunch of times (no surprise there, it was made before the era of Me Too and all that). It is pleasantly astonishing, though, how the main six have managed to stay out of major controversy.
Well, there was a time when Matthew Perry completely missed the mark while filming a scene (thankfully, it never made it into the episode!).
In the season 9 episode, The One With Rachel's Phone Number, Joey sees Monica in lingerie and immediately thinks that she is cheating on Chandler.
Sure, he doesn't know that Chandler is home, but still, way to jump to conclusions about one of your best friends, Joey!
In the episode, Joey stops by Monica's apartment, sees her in a sexy dress with two glasses of wine, and gets suspicious.
Despite the fact that she tells him that she is just "practicing the art of seduction" for when Chandler comes home, Joey still calls his bestie up and tells him to fly to New York immediately because he believes Monica might be cheating on him.
A blooper reveals that there used to be a scene, in which irritated Monica said, "He thinks I'm a slut!" after the phone call ends, and Matthew Perry apparently went off-script and joked, "Have you looked in the mirror?" (referring to Monica's lingerie).
We don't know what the original line was supposed to be, as this scene was cut from the final episode, but Perry's joke was just too much.
Insinuating that Joey's suspicions are valid just because Monica dresses up (to surprise Chandler, by the way!) is just plain wrong and, frankly, borders on slut-shaming.
While we do understand that Perry was poking fun at his close friend and co-star, he definitely crossed the line. Even the audience was not happy with the joke.
Maybe that was the reason the scene got deleted altogether?
Whatever the case may be, we are glad that the creators thought it best not to include this scene and Chandler's improvised (but clearly controversial) gag in the episode.
Matthew Perry, we love you, but tone it down a little!