Gabrielle Union Hosting All-Black 'Friends' Reading f/ Sterling K. Brown, Uzo Aduba, and More

The reading will star Sterling K. Brown, Uzo Aduba, Kendrick Sampson, Jeremy Pope, Aisha Hinds, and Ryan Bathe as they reenact a Season 3 episode.

Gabrielle Union arrives at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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Image via Getty/Allen Berezovsky

Gabrielle Union arrives at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party

Friends is just the white version of Living Single, so this is perfect. The Hollywood Reporter writes that Gabrielle Union will host an all-Black reading of the sitcom tonight (Sept. 22) at 9 p.m. ET. The reading will feature real-life married couple Sterling K. Brown and Ryan Bathe as Ross and Rachel, plus Uzo Aduba as Phoebe, Kendrick Sampson as Joey, Jeremy Pope as Chandler, and Aisha Hinds as Monica.

The latest The Zoom Where It Happens event will be directed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield and the cast will reenact "The One Where No One's Ready," the second episode of the third season. RSVP right here.

Tessa Thompson and Issa Rae—who appeared in Jay-Z's take on a Black version of Friends for his "Moonlight" video—will be part of the reading's production team alongside Kerry Washington, Rashida Jones, Stefanie and Quentin James, Karen Richardson, Ava DuVernay, Latanya Richardson, Channing Dungey. Bathe, and Hinds. (Hov's "Moonlight" also starred Jerrod Carmichael, Rel Howery, Lakeith Stanfield, and Tiffany Haddish—and recreated the same Season 3 episode this event will.)

The reading was put together in hopes of gathering support for Michelle Obama's When We All Vote initiative. The nonpartisan nonprofit's mission is to change the culture around voting by bringing together citizens, institutions, brands, and organizations.

"We've selected popular four-quadrant shows to attract a wide cross-section of potential voters," Bathe said in a statement. "We're thrilled to see how many people have embraced the series and are actively motivated to get out the vote this November."

To watch the reading, potential viewers must sign up to receive emails regarding voting and the upcoming election. This reading comes after Tracee Ellis Ross, Alfre Woodard, Regina King, and Sanaa Lathan re-imagined Golden Girls for a live table read, followed by Shia LaBeouf stealing the show during a celebrity-stacked reading of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. 

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