The Gay Bar Scene Matthew Perry Reportedly Shut Down for Chandler in 'Friends'

Friends will always be there for you (even though the sitcom just left Netflix!), but evidently if there's a gay bar involved, you can count Chandler out. According to NY Daily News, a behind-the-scenes book claims that the actor who portrayed Chandler Bing, Matthew Perry, refused to do a scene in which his character went to a gay bar.

In Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show That Defined a Television Era, Saul Austerlitz retells some of the stories lived by the cast and crew of NBC’s television phenomenon. The author used exclusive interviews with the show’s creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, as well as executive producers, writers, and cast members. In one such account, Austerlitz describes how writers of the show thought of a storyline for Chandler where he sneaks into a gay bar because he likes the tuna melt that it serves. “Perry said no,” Austerlitz wrote, “and the story was shelved.”

The scenario sounds pretty typical to an episode of Friends, with one of the main characters getting into random shenanigans. During the show's run, it was a running joke that Chandler was paranoid about people’s perception of him being gay. Back when the show aired this was just another gimmick to get laughs, but jokes about being gay really aren't funny or acceptable in the modern days of television. If Friends aired today, storylines like Carol and Susan's marriage serving as a prop to make Ross feel uncomfortable and emasculated would most likely not be included, and if they were, people would be rightfully upset about it.

Who knows Perry's exact reasoning for refusing the storyline, but maybe he will address the issue in the upcoming Friends reunion special.