'Friends' Will Likely Leave Netflix After Contract Expires, Exec Says

Friends will likely leave Netflix after the show's contract expires, Chief Creative Officer for Turner Kevin Reilly says.

According to THR reporter Lesley Goldberg, Reilly referred to the series as a "crown jewel" and implied that the show may not have its contract with Netflix renewed when it's up later this year or in 2020.

"For most part, sharing destination assets like that, it is not a good model to share. It should be exclusive to the service," Reilly stated.

Kevin Reilly doesn’t believe in sharing “crown jewels” — like #Friends — and indicates it could very likely be pulled form Netflix when that deal is up. "For most part, sharing destination assets like that, it is not a good model to share. It should be exclusive to the service."

— Lesley Goldberg (@Snoodit) February 11, 2019

Fans grew panicked last year when it was reported that Friends would be leaving Netflix in 2019.

Many took to Instagram to lament the news, prompting Netflix to announce that they had negotiated a deal to keep the show on throughout 2019.

The Holiday Armadillo has granted your wish: “Friends” will still be there for you in the US throughout 2019 pic.twitter.com/Yd0VqRzk3r

— Netflix US (@netflix) December 3, 2018

The deal that WarnerMedia and Netflix came to reportedly saw the streaming service pay upwards of $100 million to keep the show on for another year.

Shortly thereafter, it was announced that the service would be increasing prices on their subscriptions, leading many users to believe that the Friends deal was responsible.

I hope everyone’s happy with the same episodes of Friends y’all couldn’t live without //t.co/bf2FLhKsAF

— Chandler Gibson (@cmgibson98) January 15, 2019

"I hope everyone's happy with the same episodes of Friends y'all couldn't live without," one user suggested.

"I think everyone who hasn't streamed Friends in the last 12 months should keep the same price and make those that watch it suffer," someone else tweeted.

Can I get the No Friends subscription rate please? Never watched an episode all the way through. Just couldn't deal with the idiocy.

— Joelle McFarland (@JoelleM92) January 17, 2019

"Can I get the No Friends subscription rate please?" another user wrote. "Never watched an episode all the way through. Just couldn't deal with the idiocy."

"I still think Friends is overrated," yet another person added, taking issue with the pandemonium over the series more that the price hike. "Not that it isn't good, but I don't get why it's so 'amazing.' Is it for the meme of it? Is that why everybody acts like it's the best thing in [TV] history?"

I still think Friends is overrated. Not that it isn't good, but I don't get why it's so "amazing". Is it for the meme of it? Is that why everybody acts like it's the best thing in film history?

— TheChosenWaffle (@thechosenwaffle) January 17, 2019

Regardless of how divided users are, however, it seems that for now neither Friends nor the Netflix price increase are going anywhere.