25 Fictional Best Friends Who Were Totally Toxic And We Need To Stop Pretending They Weren't
I loooove drama, and when I'm watching something or reading a book, there's nothing better (to hate-watch?) than a toxic best friend. So, I asked the BuzzFeed Community: who are some of the worst best friends in fiction? Here are their takes, from controversial to generally agreed-upon.
1."Rachel Green. I'll never understand why she is the most popular [of the characters in Friends]; she always seems to act out of self-interest. She was the worst friend to Monica and Ross in particular."
"She moved in with Monica without her permission [and] was literally the worst roommate. She did not help in any way — didn't cook, didn't clean — and also, she was very irresponsible. Rachel stole Monica's thunder on MORE than one occasion. She also sabotaged all of Ross' relationships because she genuinely couldn't stand the fact that he was doing well and happy after their breakup."
2."ALL of Andy’s friends from The Devil Wears Prada. They talk shit about her job, but gleefully take free stuff, criticize her, and side with her boyfriend when she missed his birthday. Not one supportive friend in that whole circle! Oooh, that scene when they’re tossing her phone when Miranda calls her always makes me so angry, haha."
3."Everyone in Gossip Girl, honestly. Too many examples, but Dan gave a good summary when he [eventually] told Serena, 'What I did is no worse than what all your friends do to each other every day. You try to ruin each other and then you sit down for Thanksgiving and you call yourselves family.' Dan is terrible too, but at least he got that one right."
The CW
4."Phoebe Buffay, hands down. She's the worst friend in The Gang alongside Rachel. I've never liked her character and not just because I don't find her quirky vibes as charming, cute, or funny. She was rude — cruel even — and hypocritical, but I always hated Phoebe [most] for the way she treated Chandler."
"It was used in the show as comic relief, but for me every time she slandered Chandler behind his back (especially when he and Monica became a couple) [it] left a sour taste in my mouth. Chandler was a good friend to Phoebe- he helped her and cared about her."
5."[Both] Greg Heffley and Rowley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid. They had a horrible relationship!"
6."Lord Henry Wotton from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray is the absolute worst best friend in all of fiction, bar none."
"He manipulates Dorian's mind and plays with his life simply because he is bored and wants to see how far his influence can go. He refers to the fact that he can make Dorian 'a titan or a toy' and compares speaking to him to playing notes on an instrument. It's all an experiment to him, and he does not care how many lives he destroys along the way, including his own sister's."
—Anonymous
7."In Sex and the City, Charlotte was definitely the worst friend. How often did she slut-shame her friends, especially Samantha? Then she'd go out and do the same things [they did]. And she was a huge snob. Carrie was flawed, but who isn't?"
8."Rory Gilmore. She ignores her so-called best friend Lane unless she wants to vent about her problems, yet completely ignores Lane whenever Lane wants to talk to her about something."
—Anonymous
9."Ross was the WORST. He whined constantly and always made everything about him, and he threw his best friend and sister under the bus to get out of trouble even when he knew he was already his parents' favorite child."
NBC
"He was possessive of Rachel even when they weren’t together. HE DIDN’T ANNUL HIS MARRIAGE TO RACHEL. He was the original Tamlin (from A Court of Thorns and Roses). Ross was only looking out for himself, and he was DANG lucky to have the friend group he did."
—Anonymous
Another point of view:
"Ross wasn't the worst. He was a mess from his prior relationships and perhaps should have taken a break from dating. But Rachel only wanted him when he wasn't available. She messed with his head every time he was in a relationship — Julie, Emily, Bonnie, am I missing anyone? And then found reasons not to be with him after he ended those relationships to be with her."
10."Dodie in As Told By Ginger. She was always working against Ginger behind the scenes in order to try and make herself more popular, and could never genuinely be happy for Ginger."
11."Everyone on Gossip Girl. What a dumpster fire of a friend group. God, I loved them."
The CW
12."Feyre from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Not necessarily a best friend but she’s just the absolute worst."
"She treats people like crap, uses them, and has no insight into how terrible her behavior is. She’s self-centered and annoying and immature but clearly meant to be an awesome heroine, which makes her even more damn annoying. I enjoyed the books, they’re entertaining, but she just grates on me."
—Anonymous
13."Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski."
14."The first character that comes to mind is Dijonay Jones from The Proud Family. All of Penny's friends were fake, but Dijonay was the fakest friend Penny had."
"She always ditched her when Penny needed her most, got her into trouble countless times and bailed, chose to go to LaCienga's party over Penny's, and dumped her siblings on her to go to a concert. Hell, even Suga Mama told Penny to dump that girl."
15."Toni and Joan in Girlfriends. Toni was terrible to Joan and Joan was a doormat with shitty boundaries and low self-esteem!"
16."Lily from Princess Diaries or Rhiannon from Easy A. If my best friends treated me the way [they treated their friends], I’d literally never speak to them again.
Walt Disney Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Releasing
"Lily is the FIRST person who came to mind, but Rhiannon is even worse!"
17."Ferris Bueller. He is self-centered, self-righteous, and horrible to his best friend. He is an absolute jerk."
Paramount Pictures
—Anonymous
18."Literally every main character from Girls."
—Anonymous
19."Lorelai Gilmore; she was so selfish. Poor Sookie never got a chance to be the heroine in her own story, [it] was always just Lorelai drama."
—Anonymous
20."Ginny and Max from Ginny and Georgia."
Netflix
"Ginny is very dramatic and 'edgy.' She dates Max’s brother without discussing it with Max, breaching the whole friendship; but Max overreacting [to that],cutting off half the friend group, and bullying them for such a simple problem is toxic."
—Anonymous
21."Rachel Berry from Glee. You can’t be more successful than her. She mistreated Kurt when he got more popular than her at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts, and then treated him terribly when he beat her in the Diva-Off."
"She was angry at Santana, who auditioned to be her understudy (not the lead) in her Broadway show, and acted like Kurt and Santana kicked her out of the apartment. She gets upset when any of her so-called friends get a solo she wants and quits the glee club until they give it to her."
—Anonymous
22."J.D. from Scrubs! When the show was on, I thought the character was quirky and smart... but my goodness. He is shallow, narcissistic, and annoying."
ABC
—Anonymous
23."Belly from The Summer I Turned Pretty. She called her 'best friend' a slut for kissing her brother when she’s been messing around with Conrad, Jeremiah, and Cam the entire book. She also insulted Conrad at his mother’s funeral."
—Anonymous
24."Bella Swan in Twilight. Jessica may have been a little bitchy, but she was genuinely interested in befriending Bella. But as soon as Bella learned about the Cullens, she simply lost all interest in 'normal people' like Jessica."
—Anonymous
25.And finally, everyone's most problematic fave-to-watch: "Carrie Bradshaw is a terrible friend. She doesn’t properly listen to her friends when they vent their problems; she always finds ways to turn them into her problems, or to turn the discussion back to her, or to make [her friends] feel bad for her. She treated Aidan appallingly."
"Although I don’t agree the second time was her fault; she gave herself fully to that relationship but he couldn’t let go. She felt so entitled that she shouted at Charlotte for not wanting to lend her money, then practically bullied her into selling her ring. She must have done something awful to Samantha [by the time And Just Like That takes place,] because Sex and the City Samantha would have swum back to NYC to be with Sex and the City Carrie if Big had died."
"The answer will aways be Carrie."
"Carrie Bradshaw inspired a generation of young women to expect everyone to pander to their narcissistic ideals. She continually buys cute $700 shoes then gets pissed off when her 'friend' Charlotte won’t sell her engagement ring to finance her down payment on her apartment. I just don’t understand what Miranda or Charlotte ever got from the 'friendship' with Carrie. She needed to forget the shoes and put the money into a good therapist."
HBO
Some of these people are just the worst. I'm glad we could commiserate together. If you have any strong opinions, please, be my guest and feel free to complain your heart out in the comments below!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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