may be gearing up for a Friends reunion, but first she needs to bury the hatchet with the show’s creator, , or it won’t happen,  has exclusively learned.

“It’s the elephant in the room that won’t go away until they’ve mended fences,” a source told  exclusively.

Aniston and Kauffman have apparently been feuding for years over the , and the astronomical paychecks the stars held out for during the height of the show’s popularity.

n 2002, hot off the heels of the show’s eighth season, the stars of Friends showed how closely knit they really were, and decided to renegotiate their contracts collectively. That meant each cast member, including Aniston,  , , ,  and  would be paid the same or they threatened to leave the hit show.

After tense negotiations, the cast won, and agreed to a then-record payday of $1 million per episode for the ninth and tenth seasons. Kauffman, who most recently was the showrunner of Netflix's Grace and Frankie, reportedly disputed the payout then, and in 2015, defended her stance while addressing the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour.

"A million dollars an episode is kinda ridiculous," Kaufmann said at the time. "Let's be honest, that's a lot of money."

That led to the long-standing feud, according to  sources.

“Jen’s known to carry a grudge against Marta for not supporting the cast’s profit percentage, which made them all extremely rich,” the insider confessed.

“Courteney is playing peacemaker and suggesting they get together over dinner to work this out because if they don’t, having Jen and Marta in the same room together will be all awkwardness and no fun,” according to the source.

Talks are still underway for an  special that would reunite all six lead actors, as well as series creators  and Kauffman. But the deal is far from done and agreements with cast and creatives still need to be hammered out.

When and if deals are completed, the challenge then becomes sorting out everyone's schedules.

“Marta was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in January (by the Producers Guild) and the cast feels it would be nice if Jen could be there with them in support.”