Jennifer Aniston Reveals Reason for Not Attending Emmys Despite ‘Friends’ Nominations

Anyone hoping for a live Friends reunion during Sunday’s Primetime Emmy Awards will be disappointed since Jennifer Aniston will not be there. Aniston and the rest of the main Friends cast are nominees this year as executive producers on the HBO Max special Friends: The Reunion, but she does not plan to pick up the award if it wins. Friends: The Reunion also earned three Creative Arts Emmy nominations.

During a stop on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Monday, Aniston confirmed she has no plans to attend the Emmys. “I think Ben Winston, our producer and director, [who’s] incredible, who put the whole thing together [will go],” she said. “This is a big step for me to just be here… I’m just [taking] baby steps.”

Aniston explained that she has been quarantining at home during the pandemic so she can safely film The Morning Show Season 2. She has also been making press appearances and visiting her friends, like Courteney Cox and Jason Bateman, but she is not ready to attend a big, in-person awards show. “We had this little bubble of friends – thank God, I love all of you so much – but yeah, it was hard. Weird times,” Aniston told Kimmel, notes Today.

Although the Emmys were virtual last year, the Television Academy has planned an in-person ceremony for Sunday. It will take place under a tent on the L.A. Live deck, near the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Only about 600 people will attend, so nominees can only invite a limited number of guests. Attendees will also have to show proof of COVID vaccination and a negative COVID test result. Aniston famously appeared at last year’s Emmys, helping Kimmel present the first award.

Friends: The Reunion was nominated for Oustanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded). The other nominees are Bo Burnham: Inside; David Byrne’s American Utopia; 8:46 – Dave Chappelle; Hamilton; and A West Wing Special to Benefit When We All Vote. Friends: The Reunion was also nominated for Oustanding Directing for a Variety Special; Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety Special; and Outstanding Production Design for a Variety Special.

“It’s very exciting, and it was, kind of, not even expected,” Aniston told Entertainment Tonight when asked about the Emmy nominations. “We’re in the same category as Hamilton, so that’s the closest I’ll get to a Broadway show. But yes, that was a nice surprise.”

Aniston will next be seen in The Morning Show Season 2, which premiered on Apple TV+ Friday. She earned an Emmy nomination for the show’s first season last year. Aniston won an Emmy for Friends in 2002.