Jerry Seinfeld Just Accused ‘Friends’ of Copying His Show—And He’s Not Wrong

Jerry Seinfeld is NOT happy. The comedy legend just went after NBC’s ‘Friends,’ claiming the show straight-up copied his sitcom ‘Seinfeld.’ And honestly? He has a point.

At a recent event, Jerry didn’t hold back. “Both shows are about a close group of friends living in New York City,” he said, making it crystal clear what he thinks happened. A group of friends. In NYC. Sound familiar? Yeah, because that’s literally the premise of ‘Seinfeld’—which premiered in 1989, five years before ‘Friends’ hit screens in 1994.

The shade is REAL here. Jerry’s essentially saying the creators of ‘Friends’—David Crane, Marta Kauffman, and Michael Kudrow—looked at his massively successful show and thought, “Let’s do that, but with a different cast.” Both shows became cultural phenomena. Both launched careers. Both dominated the ’90s and beyond. But only one came first.

Jerry’s not wrong to be salty about this. His show literally rewrote the sitcom playbook. The ensemble cast dynamic, the New York City setting, the coffee shop hang-outs—these became the blueprint. Then ‘Friends’ took that exact formula and made billions off it. Jerry’s basically saying: “Hey, remember MY show? The one that did this first?”

Whether ‘Friends’ actually copied or just followed a winning formula is the real question. But when the OG himself calls you out? That’s a moment.

Based on reporting from Page Six.