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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:
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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
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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.

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Sabrina Carpenter hits out at ‘evil and disgusting’ White House video featuring her song

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Sabrina Carpenter hits out at 'evil and disgusting' White House video featuring her song

Sabrina Carpenter has hit out at an “evil and disgusting” White House video of migrants being detained that uses one of her songs.

“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the pop star posted on X.

The White House used part of Carpenter‘s upbeat song Juno over pictures of immigration agents handcuffing, chasing and detaining people.

It was posted on social media on Monday and has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.

President Trump‘s policy of sending officers into communities to forcibly round up illegal immigrants has proved controversial, with protests and legal challenges ongoing.

Mr Trump promised the biggest deportation in US history, but some of those detained have been living and working in the US for decades and have no criminal record.

Carpenter is not the only star to express disgust over the administration’s use of their music.

More on Sabrina Carpenter

Olivia Rodrigo last month warned the White House not to “ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda” after All-American Bitch was used in a video urging undocumented migrants to leave voluntarily.

Read more from Sky News:
Pope urges Trump not to oust Venezuelan president by force

Government delays Chinese ‘super embassy’ decision

In July, English singer Jess Glynne also said she felt “sick” when her song from the viral Jet2 advert was used over footage of people in handcuffs being loaded on a plane.

Other artists have also previously hit out at Trump officials for using their music at political campaign events, including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.

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Matthew Perry’s parents say doctor is ‘among most culpable of all’ ahead of first sentencing over star’s death

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Matthew Perry's parents say doctor is 'among most culpable of all' ahead of first sentencing over star's death

Matthew Perry’s parents have criticised the “jackals” involved in dealing drugs to the star – and accused a doctor of being “among the most culpable of all” ahead of his sentencing today.

Emotional victim impact statements by Perry‘s mother Suzanne and stepfather Keith Morrison, and father John and stepmother Debbie, have been submitted to the US district court for Central California ahead of Salvador Plasencia’s hearing.

They say “no one alive and in touch with the world” could have been unaware of the Friends star’s struggles with addiction, and that the doctor broke his vows “repeatedly” to “feed on the vulnerability of our son”.

Plasencia, 44, is the first of five people to be sentenced in connection with the 54-year-old’s death, and has pleaded guilty to illegally selling him large amounts of ketamine. He is not accused of selling the dose that killed the actor, but had been supplying the drug to him in the weeks beforehand.

Salvador Plasencia appeared in court to change his plea to guilty earlier this year. Pic: Reuters/Mike Blake
Image:
Salvador Plasencia appeared in court to change his plea to guilty earlier this year. Pic: Reuters/Mike Blake

Perry was found in his hot tub by his assistant in October 2023. A medical examiner later ruled that ketamine and other factors had caused him to lose consciousness and drown.

In their letter filed to the court, Suzanne and Keith Morrison share their grief, saying they feel a “confusion of emotions”.

Anger “seethes away down deep, whether you want it to or not”, they say, detailing how they play out “unalterable events, over and over and over” in their minds, “as if it could make any difference now”.

They also write about the impact Perry’s death has had on others, saying they often find Friends mementos, as well as flowers and notes and other tributes, left at his grave.

The star’s story “moved so many people”, they add. “And he wanted, needed, deserved a third act. It was in the planning. And then, those jackals.”

Perry was best known for playing Chandler Bing in Friends. Pic: Everett/ Shutterstock
Image:
Perry was best known for playing Chandler Bing in Friends. Pic: Everett/ Shutterstock

‘This doctor conspired to break his most important vows’

Saying they find Plasencia’s actions “truly hard to understand”, they tell the judge: “I believe the man you are going to sentence today is among the most culpable of all…

“Why become a doctor? To cure the sick of course. To heal people. To save lives.”

Crimes can be easier to understand in some circumstances, they say. “Maybe in the heat of passion, or because that person makes one very bad decision… Or some drug dealer, bad to the bone, who takes the calculated risk of getting caught and spending many years in prison.

“But… a doctor? Who trades on respect, and trust? And not just one bad decision. No one alive and in touch with the world at all could have been unaware of Matthew’s struggles.

“But this doctor conspired to break his most important vows, repeatedly, sneaked through the night to meet his victim in secret. For what, a few thousand dollars? So he could feed on the vulnerability of our son.”

Read more:
The drug network exposed by Perry’s death
Obituary: The one who made everyone laugh
Matthew Perry: A life in pictures

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

‘You don’t deserve to hear our feelings’

Addressing Plasencia directly in their statement, John and Debbie Perry say: “You don’t deserve to hear our feelings. How you devastated our family contributing to the loss of Matthew, our only son.”

They describe Perry as a “warm, loving man” and say his recovery counted on Plasencia “saying NO”.

Their letter continues: “Your motives? I can’t imagine. A doctor whose life is devoted to helping people?

“How long did you possibly see supplying Matthew countless doses without his death to eventually follow? Did you care? Did you think?”

Prosecutors are asking Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett to sentence Plasencia to three years in prison.

John and Debbie Perry have asked the court to extend the sentence beyond the mandatory period.

Ahead of sentencing, Plasencia’s lawyers have described him as a man who rose out of poverty to become a doctor beloved by his patients, and say his selling to Perry was “reckless” and “the biggest mistake of his life”.

In their sentencing memo, they say “remorse cannot begin to capture the pain, regret and shame that Mr Plasencia feels for the tragedy that unfolded and that he failed to prevent”.

However, they say Plasencia has already lost his medical licence and career, and a prison sentence is “neither necessary nor warranted”.

The other four people charged in connection with Perry’s death have also accepted plea deals and are due to be sentenced over the next few months.

They are: dealer Jasveen Sangha, also known as “the Ketamine Queen”, Perry’s assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, another doctor, Mark Chavez, and Erik Fleming, an associate of the actor.

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Sabrina Carpenter hits out at ‘evil and disgusting’ White House video featuring her song

Published

on

By

Sabrina Carpenter hits out at 'evil and disgusting' White House video featuring her song

Sabrina Carpenter has hit out at an “evil and disgusting” White House video of migrants being detained that uses one of her songs.

“Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda,” the pop star posted on X.

The White House used part of Carpenter‘s upbeat song Juno over pictures of immigration agents handcuffing, chasing and detaining people.

It was posted on social media on Monday and has been viewed 1.2 million times so far.

President Trump‘s policy of sending officers into communities to forcibly round up illegal immigrants has proved controversial, with protests and legal challenges ongoing.

Mr Trump promised the biggest deportation in US history, but some of those detained have been living and working in the US for decades and have no criminal record.

Carpenter is not the only star to express disgust over the administration’s use of their music.

More on Sabrina Carpenter

Olivia Rodrigo last month warned the White House not to “ever use my songs to promote your racist, hateful propaganda” after All-American Bitch was used in a video urging undocumented migrants to leave voluntarily.

Read more from Sky News:
Pope urges Trump not to oust Venezuelan president by force

Government delays Chinese ‘super embassy’ decision

In July, English singer Jess Glynne also said she felt “sick” when her song from the viral Jet2 advert was used over footage of people in handcuffs being loaded on a plane.

Other artists have also previously hit out at Trump officials for using their music at political campaign events, including Guns N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Celine Dion, Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.

Continue Reading

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