Courteney Cox admits 'it always hurt my feelings' never to receive Emmy nod for 'Friends'

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow's appearance on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show briefly became "The One Where Monica Wasn't Nominated."

"It always hurt my feelings," Cox admitted, referencing how she was the only one of her Friends co-stars to never receive an Emmy nomination (h/t Insider). "When every single cast member was nominated but me, it definitely hurt my feelings. I was happy for everybody, and then when it was finally like, 'Oh, I'm the only one?' It hurt."

The 57-year-old actress clarified she was "in awe" of Aniston and Kudrow's talent, and she "never wanted to take anything away from anyone" but rather just "want to be included."

"I want them to win," she added.

Friends ran for 10 iconic seasons from 1994 to 2004 on NBC. The series starred Aniston (as Rachel Green), Cox (Monica Geller), Kudrow (Phoebe Buffay), Matt LeBlanc (Joey Tribbiani), Matthew Perry (Chandler Bing) and David Schwimmer (Ross Geller).

Kudrow led everyone with six Emmy nods, winning in 1998, followed closely by Aniston's five—she won in 2002. LeBlanc was nominated three times, while Perry and Schwimmer were each nominated once. None of the men won.

Cox recognized that she was slightly vindicated by her 2010 Golden Globe nomination (best actress in a comedy or musical television series) for Cougar Town, which aired from 2009-15 on ABC and TBS.

"The only thing that made me feel good—because they've all won and they've gotten so many accolades—I got nominated for Cougar Town the first year [out]—a Golden Globe," she told Stern. "And I want to say, 'Oh, who cares?' It meant everything to me. I wanted my peers to respect me and I know that the Golden Globes is not your peers, necessarily, but it's like, 'Ah!' It took a little of the sting out."

Regardless of external validation, the love between the Friends cast has endured for 27 years. That was exhibited elsewhere during their visit with Stern, as Kudrow detailed how Aniston and Cox "came running to support her" after her mother's sudden death toward the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All six co-stars were brought together for the first time at Studio 24—and just the second time overall—since the series finale in spring 2004 to film Friends: The Reunion in early April.

HBO Max released the nearly two-hour unscripted special May 27, and it is exclusively available to stream there.