Zoë Kravitz Calls Out the Problem With Beloved ’90s Sitcoms Like ‘Friends’

The ’90s were a cultural phenomenon, an era of bold statements, effortless cool, and media that still makes headlines decades later. Everyone seems to remember it fondly, from fashion devotees to music fanatics, as if the decade itself had a personal PR team. Yet as its charm is endlessly romanticized today, Zoë Kravitz has her own thoughts, noticing one glaring element about that beloved era that does not deserve applause.

While the ’90s gifted us plaid skirts, grunge heartbreaks, and timeless classics, it also delivered something uncensored, now a glittering cultural landmine that Zoë Kravitz must tiptoe through.

Zoë Kravitz pinpoints the problem with Friends and other 90s shows

Zoë Kravitz adores ’90s nostalgia, the baggy jeans, smoky grunge cafés, and New York City’s effortlessly cool chaos, all wrapped in leather jackets and vinyl tracks. Yet even as she revels in the era’s aesthetic magic, she draws a hard line at casual homophobia sneaking through mainstream TV. On Friends, for instance, she told PEOPLE, “If you watch Friends now you’re like, ‘Whoa,’” proving not all classics age gracefully.

Zoë Kravitz’s critique specifically zooms in on the jokes that once elicited laughs but now elicit groans, particularly those targeting LGBTQ characters. Episodes spotlighting Carol and Susan or Chandler’s trans parent often turned identities into comic fodder. Kravitz said these moments were “things that aren’t punchlines [that] are punchlines,” capturing how a beloved sitcom’s humor can clash sharply with contemporary values, leaving her cautious about fully embracing the era’s celebrated media.^[1]

As Zoë Kravitz dissects the awkward humor of ’90s shows, her own life reads like a headline-making rom-com, where real-world romance rivals any scripted nostalgia.

Zoë Kravitz brings 90s rom-com energy to London date night with Harry Styles

Zoë Kravitz critiques ’90s media, but her personal life reads like a rom-com script she might adore. The internet went into a frenzy over her London date night kiss with Harry Styles at Rita’s bistro in Soho, an act described by eyewitnesses as steamy and unapologetically public. What started as whispering rumors escalated into a full-blown social media spectacle, proving that her romance could make a classic rom-com jealous.^[2]

Romantic history only adds layers to the narrative. Harry Styles split with Taylor Russell after a whirlwind year, while Zoë Kravitz ended her engagement to Channing Tatum. Brief sparks with Austin Butler and a sighting with Noah Centineo fueled speculation, culminating in the London rendezvous that turned rumors into cinematic reality. It is drama, timing, and chemistry, all wrapped in 90s-style storytelling, ironically, the same kind of drama she critiqued on TV, proving nostalgia is complicated and love is even more so.

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