Friends star reveals disturbing behind-the-scenes details

A guest star on Friends has opened up about an alleged racist incident that occurred on set, describing the experience as a “toxic environment”.

Steve Park is looking back at his time on Friends.

The actor, 62, got candid on guest starring on a 1997 episode of the sitcom, claiming the set was “kind of a toxic environment.”

He starred on two episodes — Season 2, Episode 23 in 1996, titled ‘The One with the Chicken Pox,’ and in 1997 during Season 3, Episode 24, ‘The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion.’

The comedian shared that while on set, he overheard a crew member use racist language to refer to another guest on the show — actor James Hong.

The unnamed crew member allegedly called Hong, now 96, to set “and essentially saying, “Where is the Oriental guy? Get the Oriental guy.”

Steve Park on Season 2, Episode 23 of Friends. Picture: Getty

This spurred Park to take action. He filed a complaint with the Screen Actors Guild and wrote a ‘mission statement,’ which called for better treatment of Asian Americans in Hollywood. “When I called Screen Actors Guild after that happened, the person I spoke with recommended I write an article to the LA Times,” Park told former Boy Meets World stars Danielle Fishel, Will Friedle and Rider Strong on their podcast Pod Meets World.

“This is bigger than this show,” he explained. “This isn’t the first time this has happened. But this is the environment where this is business as usual in Hollywood in 1997, I guess it was. And nobody felt the need to correct this or say anything about it. So this was normal behaviour.”

The Post reached out to Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman’s rep for comment.

Park said the LA Times sent reporters to interview him about his mission statement, “and then they never printed it.”

Steve Park guest starred as Scott Alexander on the popular sitcom in 1997. Picture: NBC

So instead, he distributed the statement himself through email, which led to “responses from all across the country from publications that were asking permission to reprint it. It went viral before ‘viral’ was even a word.”

During the spring of 1997, the open letter was published in multiple outlets, shedding light on not only the alleged ’Friends’ incident but other abuse toward Asian Americans and people of colour working in the entertainment industry during that time.

Steve Park is best known for his roles in movies like Fargo and Do the Right Thing. His Friends role was a brief but memorable one. Picture: Getty

“If this was an isolated incident, I would not have felt compelled to write this mission statement. Unfortunately, I find this attitude and behaviour commonplace in Hollywood,” Park wrote at the time. “I know many people who have experienced this kind of indignity on a movie or television show set, and you can be sure this kind of thing is going on in the corporate culture as well.”

He also noted, “Hate crimes against Asian-Americans are on the rise in this country, and negative portrayals of Asians in the media only encourage this trend.”

Fishel, 43, said Park’s mission statement was “ahead of its time” and “incredibly brave.”

“I really recommend everybody read it. It is still on the internet,” she told listeners. “And you’ll realise, you know, Steve was saying these things 26 years ago, and they are still relevant.”

By the final season, each of the six main actors earned $1 million per episode, making them some of the highest-paid TV actors at the time. Picture: Getty

Park also guest starred on Boy Meets World in 1998 on Season 5, Episode 12, ‘Raging Cory.’

The letter caused Park to take a step back from acting.

“I had become so race-conscious and so angry that I was looking at everything through the lens of race,” he said. “I felt like there is no freedom. I didn’t feel any freedom. So I didn’t have any idea what I was going to do, but I just decided to drop out. I told everybody, ‘I’m not acting anymore.’”

This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.

Originally published as Friends star reveals disturbing behind-the-scenes details