Matthew Perry’s main Friends co-stars break silence after tragic death: ‘Unfathomable’

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Leblanc and David Schwimmer have paid tribute to their late co-star with an emotional statement.

Matthew Perry’s Friends co-stars have broken their silence over the actor’s tragic death.

Perry, 54, was known and beloved around the world for his portrayal of wisecracking character Chandler Bing on the wildly popular Friends, which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004.

First responders found Perry unconscious in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home Saturday, local time, and were unable to revive him, according to reports.

Tributes have poured in from around the world following Perry’s death, and now, Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt Leblanc and David Schwimmer have released a heart-wrenching statement about their beloved co-star and friend to People.

“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” their statement reads.

“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.”

The message is then signed by Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc and Schwimmer.

Matt Leblanc, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer and Courteney Cox have broken their silence over Matthew Perry’s death. Picture from Everett Collection.

In a wide-ranging interview with People last year, Perry admitted he’d thought he was doing a great job at hiding his drug and alcohol abuse while filming Friends, but he’d later realised his co-stars had known he was struggling and were trying to protect him.

“[They] were understanding, and they were patient,” Perry said.

“It’s like penguins. Penguins, in nature, when one is sick, or when one is very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up. They walk around it until that penguin can walk on its own. That’s kind of what the cast did for me.”

Perry also specifially praised Aniston for maintaining her compassion toward him, even years after the show ended its decades-long run in 2004.

“She was the one who reached out the most,” Perry told Diane Sawyer in an emotional 2022 interview.

“You know, I’m really grateful to her for that.”

The cast’s deep friendship was on full display during the highly-emotional Friends TV reunion in 2021, when Perry choked up while explaining his love for his co-stars.

“The best way that I can describe it is after the show was over, at a party or any kind of social gathering, if one of us bumped into each other, that was it. That was the end of the night. You just sat with the person all night long and that was it,” he said.

“You apologised to the people you were with, but they had to understand you had met somebody special to you and you were going to talk to that person for the rest of the night. And that’s the way it worked.”

While his castmates got teary, nodding in agreement, he added: “It’s certainly the way it worked with all of us. It’s just the way it is.”

Perry tragically passed away at the weekend, with initial reports claiming he drowned at home. Photo from Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images.

Perry’s former co-star, Maggie Wheeler – who played Chandler’s annoying on-again, off-again girlfriend Janice – was the first among the Friends cast to pay tribute after news of his death broke.

“What a loss. The world will miss you Matthew Perry,” she wrote in a post on Instagram, which was later followed by Morgan Fairchild, who played Chandler’s mother, who wrote shared on social media that she was “heartbroken.”

“The loss of such a brilliant young actor is a shock,” she posted on X.

Perry struggled with addiction throughout his life and battled many personal demons behind closed doors. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

Meanwhile, co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane as well executive producer Kevin Bright said in a joint statement this was “The One Where Our Hearts Are Broken,” alluding to the titles of Friends episodes.

“We are shocked and deeply, deeply saddened … It still seems impossible,” they said in the statement sent to AFP.

“We will always cherish the joy, the light, the blinding intelligence he brought to every moment — not just to his work, but in life as well.

“He was always the funniest person in the room. More than that, he was the sweetest, with a giving and selfless heart.”

Perry had a long history of personal struggles that he battled to overcome.

The star had spent millions over the years in a desperate battle for his sobriety, including 15 rehab stints for his prescription pill addiction.

His official cause of death is yet to be determined.

On Sunday, the coroner’s office stated Perry’s cause of death had been “deferred”, which usually means the autopsy has been finished but the examiner needs further time to complete an investigation.