Friends stars Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox, Jennifer Aniston, and David Schwimmer have all written touching tributes to their late friend and co-star Matthew Perry following his death in October 2023.
LeBlanc was the first star to break their silence on his death. He and Perry, of course, played best friends and roommates Joey and Chandler on Friends for a decade. In an Instagram post, LeBlanc shared images of the duo on the show long with a sweet cast photo and a written tribute.
"Matthew, it is with a heavy heart I say goodbye," he said. 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."
Cox, who played Chandler's wife Monica Geller, shared a sweet outtake in her own Instagram post where Monica was first seen in bed with Chandler, which was initially revealed during the 2021 Friends reunion special.
"I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day," Cox wrote. "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."
Rachel actress Aniston also wrote an emotional post on Instagram and posted a clip from the show's penultimate episode, where the two characters exchange goodbyes.
"Oh boy this one has cut deep," she said. "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."
Schwimmer, who played Ross, the best friend and eventual brother-in-law to Chandler, also took to Instagram to write a tribute to Perry.
"I will never forget your impeccable comic timing and delivery," Schwimmer said. "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."
Kudrow became the final Friends star to write a tribute to Perry. "Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said, that my muscles ached, and tears poured down my face every day," she wrote on Instagram.
"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. 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."
Perry died unexpectedly on October 28 aged 54 and the cast of Friends issued a joint statement remembering him a couple of days later.
"We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew,” read the October 30 statement from LeBlanc, Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, and Schwimmer. “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," the statement continued. "For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world."
There’s been an outpouring of grief since Perry’s death, with fans not only remembering his work on Friends from 1994 to 2004, but also his advocacy.
Perry, who was open about his battle with addiction, was passionate about helping others who shared that struggle, even opening a sober-living house and vocally supporting the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.
Following his death, the Matthew Perry Foundation was launched in his name, and is now accepting donations to benefit those struggling with addiction.
This story was updated to include further statements from the Friends cast.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
