People share cherished moments they had with Matthew Perry

Published

1 year ago

October 30, 2023

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Celebrities and people close to Friends star Matthew Perry have been sharing memories of moments they shared with the actor, after his sudden death at 54.

Among the many tributes paid to the sit-com star are stories from his friends, co-stars and other celebrities who crossed paths with him.

‘A gracious celebrity crush’

British comedian and actress Miranda Hart shared a photo of herself on social media, wearing a bright, cabaret-style dress.

“This is what I looked like when I met my all time crush #matthewperry,” she wrote.

“I was filming in the same studios and got the chance to meet him.

“I had often said publicly he should be my husband which was embarrassing to address in first meeting! Plus I forgot this was what I was wearing.

“Half way through our chat I suddenly realised and screamed ‘this isn’t who I am!’

“And proceeded to try and explain in a garbled way as I tried to prove I could well be wife material. He was very gracious in my utter madness.

“Thanks for all you did on and off screen to be there for people. And thanks for being a gracious celebrity crush.”

‘A magical summer’

Gwyneth Paltrow, who had a brief relationship with Perry, recalled meeting the actor before his Friends fame.

“I met Matthew Perry in 1993 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts. We were both there for most of the summer doing plays,” she wrote on Instagram.

“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.

“He had shot the pilot of Friends but it had not aired yet. He was nervous, hoping his big break was just around the corner. It was.

“We stayed friends for a while until we drifted apart, but I was always happy to see him when I did.

“I am super sad today, as so many of us are. I hope Matthew is at peace at long last. I really do.”

‘We went to meetings together’

Hank Azaria, who played Phoebe’s boyfriend David in Friends, posted on social media that he and Perry were like “brothers”, and revealed that the pair battled alcohol addiction together, crediting Perry with helping him get sober.

“Matthew was the first friend I made in Los Angeles when I moved there. I was 21. He was 16,” he said in a video.

“We were there for each other in the early days of our career and he was to me as funny as he was on Friends, and he was and other things too; in person he was just the funniest man ever.”

Speaking of his drug and alcohol abuse, he said: “I really loved him. A lot of us who were close to him felt like we lost him to drugs and alcohol a long time ago because as he documented in his autobiography there was so much suffering.

Azaria, who said he’s been sober for 17 years, added: “I want to say that the night I went into AA, Matthew brought me in. The whole first year I was sober, we went to meetings together.

“As a sober person, he was so caring and giving and wise,” he said.

“And he totally helped me get sober.”

‘Hey Dad’

Romancing The Stone star Kathleen Turner, who played Perry’s father in Friends, said she last saw Perry “at least 10 years ago”.

“He came to see one of my Broadway shows and he came backstage,” she told People Magazine.

“When he saw me, he yelled out, ‘Hey dad’ and everyone thought it was pretty cool. I think it was for Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf.”

‘Schoolyard games’

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who went to primary school with Perry, said he remembered the “schoolyard games” the two played during their younger years.

“Thanks for all the laughs, Matthew. You were loved – and you will be missed,” he added in his post on X.

On the set of The Whole Nine Yards

Rumer Willis, whose father Bruce Willis starred alongside Perry in The Whole Nine Yards – wrote on her Instagram story: “I’m so sad to hear about Matthew Perry passing.

“When I was a kid and I was on set while he and my dad were doing [The Whole Nine Yards] he was so kind and funny and sweet with my sisters and me.”

“I think his physical comedy and that movie still makes me laugh so much. I know he had many challenges in his life and brought a lot of joy to people with his comedy.

“I hope he can rest peacefully.”

A tricky Valentine’s Day restaurant reservation

American actress Shannen Doherty, best known for Beverly Hills, 90210 and Charmed, reflected on a “lifetime” of friendship with Perry.

“We were a gang way back,” she wrote in a lengthy statement on Instagram.

“We all grew up together going to the Formosa, North and constantly laughing. Matt, Roger, David, Roxana. We played dare and Matt had to say ridiculous things to girls at the bar.

“We just always had fun and supported each other. You would always find us all together in a booth speaking in our own made up language. And yes, Matt always had THAT sense of humour.

“Matt and I had a date and it was on Valentine’s Day. He wanted to get a reservation at a restaurant in Malibu but couldn’t so my dad got the reservation for him.

“We went and he talked about my dad’s Irish persuasiveness the majority of the night. Our friendship spanned a long time. A lifetime really.

“I know many are hurting, especially our little gang. He will be missed by many and definitely by us. Yes. I could be more poetic or say things better but right now, shock and sadness prevail.”

Opening up his home

Journalist and author Jon Ronson, who worked with Perry in 2014 when he wrote and directed The Dog Thrower, said the late actor was “extremely thoughtful and generous”.

“I worked with Matthew Perry nine years ago and got to know him a little,” he added. “He was extremely thoughtful and generous, even letting us stay in his home, for no reason other than kindness.

“Anyway, when someone is that kind, you should let people know, hence this tweet.”

Entertainment

Glastonbury Festival announces changes to ticket buying process

Published

13 hours ago

November 5, 2024

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Glastonbury Festival announces changes to ticket buying process

Glastonbury is changing the way fans can buy tickets for the world-famous festival.

While the booking process itself will remain the same, the way people join it is different.

Organisers warned hopefuls to log in “at least a few minutes” before the sale opens on 14 November, to avoid refreshing the page and not to attempt to game the system by using multiple devices.

Fans must be registered by 5pm GMT on Monday 11 November.

Tickets for the annual event at Worthy Farm in Somerset cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee, and are sold exclusively through the See Tickets website, with no third-party sellers involved.

The sale follows chaos earlier this year when tickets for the Oasis reunion went on sale, seeing a multitude of disappointed fans as well as those who felt cheated after being charged hundreds of pounds more for their tickets than was originally advertised.

The festival website explains: “Rather than refreshing the holding page to attempt to access the booking page, this year, when the ticket sale begins (at 6pm or 9am respectively) everyone who is already on the glastonbury.seetickets.com page will randomly be assigned a place in a queue to access the booking process.

“Anyone who logs on once the sale has started will automatically be added to the back of the queue, so it’s important to make sure you are online ready at least a few minutes before the sale opens.

“Once you are in the queue, a progress bar will indicate how close you are to reaching the booking page.

“Please do not refresh this page or use multiple devices or tabs or you may lose your place in the queue.”

Once fans reach the front of the queue and enter their registration details, they will be able to purchase a maximum of six tickets – but they will not have long to do so.

The site warns: “You will have 10 minutes to complete this page before your session expires, however tickets are not allocated at this point.”

It also cautions: “Do not attempt to minimise the tab or open new tabs. If you move away from the tab you are on your session may expire”.

The advice also says that if the amount of traffic on the website is particularly high, users may see a “reduced version of the See Tickets booking site, with a minimal holding page”.

It adds: “This does not mean the site has crashed”.

The site discourages users from using multiple devices to increase their chances of getting tickets, warning it could actively harm getting through.

It says: “Refreshing the page, using multiple tabs or many devices can look like suspicious behaviour and can harm your chances of getting through by triggering anti-bot software; therefore you must stick to one tab/device per IP address and please do not refresh your page once you are in the queue”.

One exception to the refresh rule is if the message, “All available tickets have now been allocated” pops up, at which point refreshing the page will mean any orders that haven’t been processed will go back on sale, and so may become available to buy.

Once the message “SOLD OUT” appears, it’s game over, and no more tickets will be released back for sale.

There will be another chance, however, when any returned tickets go on resale in the spring, offering festival fans a second bite of the cherry.

While next year’s acts won’t be announced until after tickets go on sale, Oasis have already ruled themselves out of performing, telling fans: “Despite media speculation, Oasis will not be playing Glastonbury 2025 or any other festivals next year. The only way to see the band perform will be on their Oasis Live ’25 World Tour.”

2026 is likely to be a fallow year for Glastonbury (a year off), with the festival traditionally taking place four out of every five years, and the fifth year reserved for rehabilitation of the land.

Glastonbury Festival takes place from 25 to 29 June 2025.

Entertainment

Taylor Swift ‘shares extremely important reminder’ to her fans on US election

Published

19 hours ago

November 5, 2024

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Taylor Swift 'shares extremely important reminder' to her fans on US election

Taylor Swift has given a “friendly but extremely important reminder” to her American fans to vote in the presidential election.

The neck-and-neck race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump – which is believed to be the closest since 2000 – has seen US stars throw their weight behind both candidates.

It had been widely speculated that Swift would appear at Ms Harris’s final rally in Pennsylvania – where the 34-year-old singer grew up.

However, the Shake It Off singer was at Arrowhead Stadium to support her boyfriend – NFL star Travis Kelce – who was playing for the Kansas City Chiefs in a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

US election latest: Voting begins for millions of Americans

Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga were the big names alongside Ms Harris at her final big event.

Swift’s election reminder came in a post she shared on the eve of polling night, celebrating the wrap of the US leg of her Eras Tour, and sharing images from her last three gigs.

In the Instagram post, the singer wrote: “Thank you to everyone who came out to see us on our last three American shows.

“And here’s a friendly but extremely important reminder that tomorrow is the US election and your last chance to vote.”

She will pick up her tour in Canada next week, with six shows in Toronto and three in Vancouver.

Her record-breaking shows – which have boosted the economy around the globe – will wrap on 8 December.

Swift publicly confirmed her support for Ms Harris in September, sharing the message on social media: “I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos.”

At the time, Swift also shared links to information on how to register to vote and find out early voting dates, reminding voters: “Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make”.

Shared with a photo of the star cuddling one of her beloved cats, she signed off her post “Childless Cat Lady,” in a nod to Republican vice-presidential candidate JD Vance’s now infamous 2021 remarks.

Entertainment

Quincy Jones: Oprah Winfrey, Elton John and Barack Obama among famous figures paying tribute to music legend

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

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Quincy Jones: Oprah Winfrey, Elton John and Barack Obama among famous figures paying tribute to music legend

Oprah Winfrey, Sir Elton John and Barack Obama among the famous figures who have paid tribute to Quincy Jones following his death at the age of 91.

Following the announcement of his death on Monday, a string of friends, collaborators and admirers have been speaking out to praise the music producer and composer.

TV host Oprah Winfrey said her life “changed forever for the better” after meeting Jones as he helped secure her role in the 1985 film adaptation of The Colour Purple, which earned her an Oscar nomination.

Jones, the jazz musician known for collaborating with the likes of Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, wrote the film score and also co-produced the film.

Winfrey wrote on Instagram: “My beloved Q. The world’s beloved Q. The one and only Quincy Jones ‘discovered’ me for The Color Purple movie in 1985. My life changed forever for the better after meeting him.

“I had never experienced, nor have since, anyone who’s heart was so filled with love.

“He walked around with his heart wide open, and he treated everybody as if they were the most important person he’d ever met. He was the Light. No shadows.

“He was love lived out loud in human form and he was the first person I ever loved unconditionally.”

Whoopi Goldberg, who was also in The Colour Purple, also wrote on Instagram: “I was lucky enough to have him in my life for all these years.

“My heart is breaking for his friends and his extended family who loved and adored him… my condolences.”

Former US president Barack Obama, who honoured Jones with the US National Medal of Arts in 2010, said: “For decades, Quincy Jones was music.

“From producing Thriller, to composing the score for The Color Purple, to working with Frank Sinatra to Ray Charles, it seemed like every big record – and every big film – had Quincy’s name on it.

“His music appealed to listeners of every race and every age. And by building a career that took him from the streets of Chicago to the heights of Hollywood, Quincy paved the way for generations of Black executives to leave their mark on the entertainment business.”

He added: “Michelle and I send our thoughts to Quincy’s friends, family, and everyone who has lived their lives to his songs.”

Sir Elton John remembered Jones as someone who had a more “incredible” career in music than anyone else.

He shared a photo with him at the Elton John Aids Foundation Oscar viewing party, and called him a “loyal supporter of this important fundraiser”.

The singer added: “Nobody had a career as incredible as Quincy Jones. He played with the best and he produced the best. What a guy. Loved him.”

Rapper Ice T hailed Jones as a “genius”, while US Grammy-winner Lenny Kravitz said he was “speechless”, but added: “What a life. What an expression of authenticity. What a teacher. I am humbled that I was given the gift of your openness and friendship”.

Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland thanked Jones for being “such a wonderful teacher” and creating the soundtrack to “some of the most extraordinary moments” in her life.

Jones also helped to launch and was an executive producer on the popular US sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, starring Will Smith.

Smith said: “Quincy Jones is the true definition of a mentor, a father and a friend. He pointed me toward the greatest parts of myself. He defended me. He nurtured me.

“He encouraged me. He inspired me. He checked me when he needed to. He let me use his wings until mine were strong enough to fly.”

Chic co-founder Nile Rodgers, who was friends with Jones, shared a video that said “Rest In Power Quincy Jones. The Greatest of All Time”.

Peter Hook, the bassist and co-founder of Joy Division and New Order, wrote on social media: “It’s so sad to hear about Quincy Jones. When he signed us to his label, he made us feel so welcome – inviting us to dinner at his home every time we were in town.

“He made us big in America. He was so humble & sweet that you immediately fell in love with him.”

Hook added: “And to this day I still got a lovely message from him every year on Christmas and birthday cards! A musical genius and a great, lovely man.”