Matthew Perry passes away: Friends cast says ‘utterly devastated’ in first public reaction since the actor's demise

The sudden demise of Matthew Perry has left the global entertainment industry in shock. In the iconic show Friends, he portrayed the beloved character of Chandler Bing. The cast members of the show have shared their reaction since his demise and said that they are ‘utterly devastated’ by the news.

Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer, in a joint statement, told People magazine: “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family.”

They added, “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,” said the statement signed by Aniston, Cox, Kudrow, LeBlanc, and Schwimmer.

“We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of our beloved son and brother. Matthew brought so much joy to the world, both as an actor and a friend. You all meant so much to him and we appreciate the tremendous outpouring of love,” said Perry’s family in a statement earlier.

“Friends” ran from 1994 until 2004, winning one best comedy series Emmy Award in 2002. The cast notably banded together for later seasons to obtain a salar of $1 million per episode for each. Unknown at the time was the struggle Perry had with addiction and an intense desire to please audiences. “‘Friends’ was huge. I couldn’t jeopardize that. I loved the script. I loved my co-actors. I loved the scripts. I loved everything about the show but I was struggling with my addictions which only added to my sense of shame,” he wrote in his memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing.” “I had a secret and no one could know.” “I felt like I was gonna die if the live audience didn’t laugh, and that’s not healthy for sure. But I could sometimes say a line and the audience wouldn’t laugh and I would sweat and sometimes go into convulsions,” Perry wrote. “If I didn’t get the laugh I was supposed to get I would freak out. I felt that every single night. This pressure left me in a bad place. I also knew of the six people making that show, only one of them was sick.” He recalled in his memoir that Aniston confronted him about being inebriated while filming. “I know you’re drinking,” he remembered her telling him once. “We can smell it,” she said, in what Perry called a “kind of weird but loving way, and the plural ‘we’ hit me like a sledgehammer.” An HBO Max reunion special in 2021 was hosted by James Corden and fed into huge interest in seeing the cast together again, although the program consisted of the actors discussing the show and was not a continuation of their characters’ storylines. Perry received one Emmy nomination for his “Friends” role and two more for appearances as an associate White House counsel on “The West Wing.” With inputs from agencies