Matthew Perry: Tributes pour in for Friends star after his death aged 54
Matthew Perry’s family have said they are “heartbroken” by his death, adding he “brought so much joy to the world”.
Perry, 54, best known for his role as Chandler Bing, was found unresponsive in a jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home at around 4pm on Saturday, the LA Times and TMZ reports.
Speaking to People magazine, his family said: “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.”
Members of the Friends cast have also been among those to pay tribute.
Maggie Wheeler, who played Perry’s on-screen girlfriends Janice, wrote on Instagram: “What a loss. The world will miss you, Matthew Perry.”
Perry struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and was in and out of rehab while filming the hit show.
Read more:
Matthew Perry obituary: The one who made everyone laugh
Chandler Bing’s funniest lines
Morgan Fairchild, who played Chandler’s mother, wrote on X: “The loss of such a brilliant young actor is a shock.”
She offered his condolences to his friends and family, “especially his dad”, whom she had also worked with.
American actor Paget Brewster, who played Kathy in Friends, who dated Perry and his co-star Matt LeBlanc’s character Joey, also posted about him on X.
“I’m so very sad to hear about @MatthewPerry,” she wrote.
“He was lovely to me on Friends and every time I saw him in the decades after.”
Commenting on his struggle with addiction, she added: “Please read his book. It was his legacy to help.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who went to school with Perry, described his death as “shocking and saddening”.
“I’ll never forget the schoolyard games we used to play, and I know people around the world are never going to forget the joy he brought them,” he said in a post on X.
“Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed.”
Appearing on the Jimmy Kimmel show Perry had previously admitted to “beating up” the politician in the playground.
Actor Gwyneth Paltrow knew Perry from when he was in his 20s – just before the Friends pilot aired. Writing on Instagram she recalled a “magical summer” they spent together.
“He was so funny and so sweet and so much fun to be with. We drove out to swim in creeks, had beers in the local college bar, kissed in a field of long grass. It was a magical summer,” she posted.
Actor Selma Blair was another friend to pay her respects.
She said: “My oldest boyfriend. All of us loved Matthew Perry, and I did especially. Every day. I loved him unconditionally. And he me.”
Perry’s hockey team plays theme tune before game
A lifelong ice hockey fan, Perry’s team the LA Kings paid tribute to him by playing the Friends theme tune before their game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
Teary fans were also seen laying flowers outside the famous ‘Friends apartment’ in Greenwich Village, New York.
Fans lay flowers for Matthew Perry outside the Friends apartment in New York
Among the other famous faces to pay their respects were Adele, actor Viola Davis and Bruce Willis’s daughter Rumer, who worked with Perry on The Whole Nine Yards.
The Friends star’s death is not being treated as suspicious.
There is no confirmed cause of death but police are investigating.
Top Boy actor Micheal Ward has been charged with two counts of rape and is due to appear in court next month.
Ward, 27, has also been charged with two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault.
The offences relate to one woman and are reported to have taken place in January 2023.
“Our specialist officers continue to support the woman who has come forward – we know investigations of this nature can have a significant impact on those who make reports,” said Detective Superintendent Scott Ware, whose team is leading the Met Police’s investigation.
Ward at the 78th Cannes Film Festival on 15 July during a press call for his upcoming film Eddington. Pic: PA
Ward, of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, is due to appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court on 28 August, the Crown Prosecution Service said.
Ward said he denies the charges of rape and sexual assault, adding in a statement: “I recognise that proceedings are now ongoing, and I have full faith that they will lead to my name being cleared.”
In a statement, Catherine Baccas, deputy chief crown prosecutor for CPS London South, said: “We remind all concerned that proceedings against the suspect are active and he has a right to a fair trial.
“It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings.”
Michael Ward has been charged with rape and sexual assault. He is pictured in October 2023. Pic: PA
Ward starred in the popular Netflix series Top Boy as Jamie. He also appeared in films like Blue Story, The Old Guard and Empire of Light.
In 2020, the Jamaican-born actor was awarded the Bafta Rising Star honour in 2020.
Read more from Sky News:
Teenagers jailed for 15 years for machete murder
Home Office threaten asylum seekers with homelessness
He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Bafta in 2021 for his role as Franklyn in the BBC series Small Axe, and 2022 for his performance as Stephen in Empire of Light.
Ward is also in the upcoming American film Eddington alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Pedro Pascal, which is set to be released in the UK next month.
Ward is pictured during the opening night of A View From The Bridge at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London in June 2024. Pic: PA
He has more than a million followers on Instagram and participated in charity events like the Soccer Aid match at Stamford Bridge last year.
Ward gave a reading at the Christmas Eve carol service hosted by the Princess of Wales in 2023.
Kelly Osbourne has commented on the death of her father Ozzy Osbourne for the first time since he died on Tuesday.
The figurehead of heavy metal died aged 76, just a few weeks after performing a huge farewell show with his Black Sabbath bandmates in Birmingham, where the band was formed in 1968.
After the show, Kelly got engaged to her longtime partner and musician Sid Wilson, of the band Slipknot, after he got down on one knee backstage.
After the frontman passed away on Tuesday, the Osbourne family released a joint statement that read: “It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning. He was with his family and surrounded by love.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The life of Ozzy Osbourne
In her first comments since losing her father, Kelly wrote on Instagram: “I feel unhappy I am so sad. I lost the best friend I ever had,” followed by a broken heart emoji.
She was quoting lyrics from the 1972 Black Sabbath song Changes.
👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈
The father and daughter were famously close, appearing on The Osbournes reality TV show together and covering the song Changes as a duet in 2003.
“That song stands for so much in our family and to me and Dad,” Kelly said on the TV show Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour, starring her brother, Jack.
“It was not only both of our first number one [single] in the UK, it represented a time in my life and a time in Dad’s life, it represented our relationship and how much we loved each other.”
Black Sabbath are widely credited with having invented heavy metal, but the piano ballad Changes widely deviated from their usual guitar and drum-heavy style.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Coldplay dedicates Nashville concert to Ozzy Osbourne
The band Coldplay also used the song to pay tribute to Ozzy this week, playing a stripped back, short version of Changes in a show in Nashville, Tennessee.
After the song, frontman Chris Martin said: “Ozzy, we love you, wherever you’re going.”
Read more from Sky News:
Oasis photographers remember the early days: ‘The journalist had to take a week off afterwards!’
Another resignation as fallout from viral Coldplay concert video deepens
Riverdance star Michael Flatley is hoping to become Ireland’s next president, a court has heard.
The revelation came out in a legal case over work done on his mansion in County Cork, the Castlehyde.
Barrister Ronnie Hudson said there had been a “material change in circumstances” for Flatley and he’s set to move back to Ireland in the next two weeks in the hope of running in autumn’s election.
A legal statement signed by the star’s solicitor, Maxwell Mooney, was also submitted to the High Court stating Flatley would “seek nominations to run for president of Ireland”.
Flatley rose to fame when Riverdance, which features traditional Irish music and dance, became a phenomenon in the 1990s and went on to tour the world. It continues to be performed today.
The choreographer and dancer also created and starred in Lord Of The Dance.
The 67-year-old – who currently lives in Monaco – strongly hinted at a presidential bid last week, but said he hadn’t made a final decision.
He told a radio interview he didn’t think the Irish people had a “true proper deep voice that speaks their language”.
Flatley said the “average person on the street” is unhappy with the status quo and “somebody has to speak for the Irish people”.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
Read more from Sky News:
Powerboat driver dies after crashing into houseboat
Another resignation as fallout from Coldplay video deepens
The role of president in Ireland is largely ceremonial and is currently held by Michael D Higgins, whose term ends on 11 November.
The election is expected to take place at the end of October.
A candidate needs nominations from at least 20 members of the Irish parliament or at least four local authorities.
Those who’ve already met the criteria are former farming journalist and EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness, and former Galway mayor Catherine Connolly.
Former MMA fighter Conor McGregor is among others who have also hinted they might run – although the prospect was universally rejected by other politicians in Ireland.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike