25 Fictional Best Friends Who Were Toxic and We Need to Stop Pretending

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.

“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,” said one user.

“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.”

Another reader chimed in, “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!”

“That scene when they’re tossing her phone when Miranda calls her always makes me so angry, haha.”

“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.’ Dan is terrible too, but at least he got that one right,” added another user.

“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.”

“Greg Heffley and Rowley from Diary of a Wimpy Kid. They had a horrible relationship!” someone pointed out.

“Lord Henry Wotton from Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is the absolute worst best friend in all of fiction, bar none,” voiced another reader.

“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.”

“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?” commented another user.

“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,” added a viewer.

“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.”

“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,” someone else pointed out.

Another perspective added, “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.”

“Dodie in As Told By Ginger 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,” commented another.

“Everyone on Gossip Girl. What a dumpster fire of a friend group. God, I loved them,” said another user.

“Feyre from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series. She treats people like crap, uses them, and has no insight into how terrible her behavior is. She’s self-centered and annoying, but clearly meant to be an awesome heroine,” someone mentioned.

“Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski,” someone pointed out.

“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,” another reader added.

“Toni and Joan in Girlfriends. Toni was terrible to Joan and Joan was a doormat with shitty boundaries and low self-esteem!” someone pointed out.

“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,” mentioned another.

“Ferris Bueller is self-centered, self-righteous, and horrible to his best friend. He is an absolute jerk,” someone commented.

“Literally every main character from Girls,” another added.

“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,” another viewer noted.

“Ginny and Max from Ginny and Georgia. Ginny is very dramatic and ‘edgy.’ She dates Max’s brother without discussing it with Max, breaching the whole friendship,” said one user.

Another added, “Max overreacting to that, cutting off half the friend group, and bullying them for such a simple problem is toxic.”

“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,” another pointed out.

“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.”

“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,” another viewer added.

“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,” another pointed out.

“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,” someone said.

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. She treated Aidan appallingly.”

“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.”

“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.”

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.

Source: BuzzFeed Community