Matthew Perry was honoured at the 2024 Emmy Awards earlier this week.
The awards ceremony paid tribute to the beloved Friends actor by playing the show’s theme song “I’ll Be There For You” during a memoriam segment, which concluded with a photo of him.
However, fans were disappointed that his co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer weren’t involved in the tribute.
Emmys executive producer Jeannae Rouzan-Clay has since explained that Matthew’s death is “still very fresh for them.”
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, fellow executive producer Jesse Collins admitted that they discussed bringing the Friends cast together for the tribute – but it was “a little too soon”.
“I can imagine, from their side, they’re mourning someone who was still very close to them,” he said.
“I can’t speak for them, but we all have to respect that they were their own family. It was probably just a little too soon.”
Last month, Matthew’s death was ruled an accident from the “acute effects of ketamine” in his official autopsy report.
The County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner also confirmed contributing factors in his death included drowning, coronary artery disease and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder).
The 54-year-old was found unresponsive in his swimming pool on October 28th, and pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.
The autopsy report stated that Matthew was “receiving ketamine infusion therapy for depression and anxiety” with the most recent dose reportedly taken one and a half weeks before his death.
However, the report continued: “The ketamine in his system at death could not be from that infusion therapy, since ketamine’s half-life is three-to-four hours, or less.”
The report also noted that he was “reportedly clean for 19 months” prior to his death, according to a witness interviewed by detectives.
In his memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing, Matthew opened up about his lengthy battle with addiction and revealed he almost died when he was 49 years old.
The Friends star spent weeks in a hospital fighting for his life after his colon burst from opioid overuse.
The actor revealed he spent two weeks in a coma and five months in the hospital and had to use a colostomy bag for nine months.
He said that when he was first admitted to the hospital, “the doctors told my family that I had a 2 percent chance to live. I was put on a thing called an ECMO machine, which does all the breathing for your heart and your lungs. And that’s called a Hail Mary. No one survives that.”
Matthew, who was just 24 when he was cast as Chandler Bing in Friends, recalled a terrifying time in his career that he was taking 55 pills a day.
He told PEOPLE: “I didn’t know how to stop. If the police came over to my house and said, ‘If you drink tonight, we’re going to take you to jail,’ I’d start packing. I couldn’t stop because the disease and the addiction is progressive. So it gets worse and worse as you grow older.”
The late 54-year-old had been to rehab 15 times, and had 14 surgeries on his stomach so far.
Matthew said fans who read his book will “be surprised at how bad it got at certain times and how close to dying I came”.
He continued: “I say in the book that if I did die, it would shock people, but it wouldn’t surprise anybody. And that’s a very scary thing to be living with. So my hope is that people will relate to it, and know that this disease attacks everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re successful or not successful, the disease doesn’t care.”
“I’m an extremely grateful guy. I’m grateful to be alive, that’s for sure. And that gives me the possibility to do anything.”
“What I’m most surprised with is my resilience. The way that I can bounce back from all of this torture and awfulness. Wanting to tell the story, even though it’s a little scary to tell all your secrets in a book, I didn’t leave anything out. Everything’s in there.”
At the time, Matthew added that his story is one “that’s filled with hope. Because here I am.”
The late 54-year-old rocketed to fame alongside Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer in Friends – which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 until 2004.
The remaining fivesome released a joint statement on the death of their co-star on October 30.
The statement, shared with PEOPLE, read: “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family.”
“There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”
“In time we will say more, as and when we are able.”
“For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”
Matthew’s funeral was held at the Forest Lawn Church of the Hills in LA on November 3, where his co-stars were in attendance, as well as his close friends and family.
After the service, the late actor was laid to rest in the cemetery opposite the Warner Brothers Studios, where he filmed 10 seasons of the iconic US sitcom Friends.
Each of the five remaining Friends cast members have since individually paid tribute to their beloved co-star.
Take a look:
Matt LeBlanc
View this post on Instagram
Matt LeBlanc, who played Matthew’s on-screen best friend and roommate Joey Tribbiani, paid tribute to his late co-star on November 14.
He wrote: “Matthew, It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye.”
“The times we had together are honestly among the favorite times of my life.”
“It was an honor to share the stage with you and to call you my friend.”
“I will always smile when I think of you and I’ll never forget you. Never.”
“Spread your wings and fly brother you’re finally free. Much love.”
“And I guess you’re keeping the 20 bucks you owe me,” Matt joked.
Courteney Cox
View this post on Instagram
On November 14, Courteney Cox, who played Matthew’s on-screen wife Monica Geller, wrote: “I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day.”
When you work with someone as closely as I did with Matthew, there are thousands of moments I wish I could share.”
“For now here’s one of my favorites,” the actress wrote, sharing a clip from Friends.
“To give a little backstory, Chandler and Monica were supposed to have a one night fling in London.”
“But because of the audience’s reaction, it became the beginning of their love story.”
“In this scene, before we started rolling, he whispered a funny line for me to say.”
“He often did things like that. He was funny and he was kind. 🤍🕊️.”
Jennifer Aniston
View this post on Instagram
On November 15, Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green on Friends, wrote: “Oh boy this one has cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before.”
“We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep.”
“And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the 6 of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be.”
“For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn’t hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it.”
“And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard.”
“In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever. I found one text that he sent me out of nowhere one day. It says it all.”
“Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying ‘could you BE any crazier?'”
“Rest little brother,” Jennifer concluded. “You always made my day… ❤️🕊️.”
David Schwimmer
View this post on Instagram
On November 15, David Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller opposite Matthew on Friends, wrote: “Matty, Thank you for ten incredible years of laughter and creativity.”
“I will never forget your impeccable comic timing and delivery.”
“You could take a straight line of dialogue and bend it to your will, resulting in something so entirely original and unexpectedly funny it still astonishes.”
“And you had heart. Which you were generous with, and shared with us, so we could create a family out of six strangers.”
“This photo is from one of my favorite moments with you. Now it makes me smile and grieve at the same time.”
“I imagine you up there, somewhere, in the same white suit, hands in your pockets, looking around -”
“’Could there BE any more clouds?,” David concluded, paying homage to Matthew’s Friends character Chandler.
Lisa Kudrow
View this post on Instagram
Lisa Kudrow, who starred as Phoebe Buffay on Friends, paid tribute to her late pal Matthew on November 15.
The actress wrote: “Shot the pilot, Friends Like Us, got picked up then immediately, we were at the NBC Upfronts. Then… You suggested we play poker AND made it so much fun while we initially bonded. Thank you for that.”
“Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said, that my muscles ached, and tears poured down my face EVERY DAY.”
“Thank you for your open heart in a six way relationship that required compromise. And a lot of ‘talking’.”
“Thank you for showing up at work when you weren’t well and then, being completely brilliant,” Lisa continued. “Thank you for the best 10 years a person gets to have.”
“Thank you for trusting me.”
“Thank you for all I learned about GRACE and LOVE through knowing you.”
“Thank you for the time I got to have with you, Matthew.”
