Friends stars Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow and David Schwimmer have paid tribute to Matthew Perry.
Aniston, who played Rachel Green in the show, wrote in an Instagram post: “Oh boy this one has cut deep… Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been an insane wave of emotions that I’ve never experienced before.
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“Being able to really SIT in this grief allows you to feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone that deep. And we loved him deeply. He was such a part of our DNA. We were always the six of us.”
Perry, 54, died last month after an apparent drowning at his Los Angeles home. His death is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office after a post-mortem examination with toxicology tests.
He played the quick-witted Chandler Bing in the beloved sitcom which ran between 1994 and 2004.
Aniston said her “chosen family” had “forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be”.
She said she had been poring over their text exchanges in the days since Perry’s death, “laughing and crying then laughing again”.
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Aniston posted a picture of a text exchange with Perrythat she said “says it all”, where he had told her: “Making you laugh just made my day.”
She added: “Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and out of any pain. I talk to you every day… sometimes I can almost hear you saying ‘could you BE any crazier?’ Rest little brother. You always made my day.”
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Aniston also posted a picture of a text exchange with Perry, where he said: “Making you laugh just made my day.”
All of the main Friends cast have now shared personal tributes to Perry.
Lisa Kudrow, who played Phoebe Buffay, thanked him for a multitude of things in an emotional Instagram post.
“Thank you for making me laugh so hard at something you said, that my muscles ached, and tears poured down my face EVERY DAY,” she said.
“Thank you for your open heart in a six way relationship that required compromise. And a lot of ‘talking.’
“Thank you for showing up at work when you weren’t well and then, being completely brilliant.
“Thank you for the best 10 years a person gets to have.”
Finally, she added: “Thank you for the time I got to have with you, Matthew.”
Meanwhile, Schwimmer, who played Ross Geller in the sitcom, said: “Matty, thank you for 10 incredible years of laughter and creativity.
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“I will never forget your impeccable comic timing and delivery. You could take a straight line of dialogue and bend it to your will, resulting in something so entirely original and unexpectedly funny it still astonishes.
“And you had heart. Which you were generous with, and shared with us, so we could create a family out of six strangers.
“This photo is from one of my favourite moments with you. Now it makes me smile and grieve at the same time.
Image: Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer in Friends. Pic: Everett/Shutterstock
“I imagine you up there, somewhere, in the same white suit, hands in your pockets, looking around – ‘could there BE any more clouds?'”
Matt LeBlanc, who played Chandler’s best friend Joey Tribbiani in the show, said in an Instagram post on Tuesday that “the times we had together are honestly among the favourite times of my life”.
LeBlanc wrote: “I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day.
“It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye.
“It was an honour to share the stage with you and to call you my friend. I will always smile when I think of you and I’ll never forget you. Never.
“Spread your wings and fly brother you’re finally free. Much love.
“And I guess you’re keeping the 20 bucks you owe me.”
Image: (L-R) Matthew Perry, Matt LeBlanc, Courteney Cox in Friends. Pic: NBC/Everett/Shutterstock
Courteney Cox, who played Chandler’s wife Monica Geller on Friends, said on Tuesday: “I am so grateful for every moment I had with you Matty and I miss you every day”.
On Instagram, she shared what she described as one of her favourite moments.
She wrote: “To give a little backstory, Chandler and Monica were supposed to have a one night fling in London. But because of the audience’s reaction, it became the beginning of their love story.
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“In this scene, before we started rolling, he whispered a funny line for me to say. He often did things like that. He was funny and he was kind.”
Tributes poured in following Perry’s death, including messages from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who attended the same school as the actor – and Sarah, Duchess of York, who had a cameo appearance in Friends.
Image: The six stars at the 2021 Friends reunion special
In a joint statement released after his death on 28 October, his Friends co-stars – LeBlanc, Cox, Aniston, Schwimmer, and Kudrow – said: “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family.
Image: The cast of Friends
“There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”
They were also among 20 mourners at Perry’s funeral in the Hollywood Hills earlier this month.
Perry was open about his battle with substance abuse and addiction, and set up a sober living facility for men with similar issues.
The 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo will be among the stars headlining Glastonbury Festival this year, it has been announced.
Glastonbury organisers have revealed the line-up for this summer’s event, taking place between 25 June and 29 June, after months of speculation.
The 1975 will take to the iconic Pyramid Stage on the Friday to headline, then Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young will perform on Saturday and Olivia Rodrigo on the Sunday.
Other big names performing include British pop sensation Charli XCX, rapper Loyle Carner electronic group The Prodigy.
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Young’s announcement in January came amid some confusion, as he had days before told fans he was pulling out of the festival because the BBC’s involvement was a “corporate turn-off”.
The Canadian singer-songwriter later said this decision was down to “an error in the information I received”.
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The 1975 will be headlining for the first time, having made their Glastonbury debut in 2014.
The Cheshire band, known for hits such as Somebody Else and Chocolate, have regularly made headlines due to the antics of frontman Matty Healy.
Glastonbury, which takes place at Worthy Farm in Somerset in the summer, has worked closely with the BBC – its exclusive broadcast partner – since 1997.
Image: Neil Young performing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival last May. Pic: Amy Harris/Invision/AP
Appetite for the esteemed festival saw standard tickets sell out in 35 minutes in November.
They cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee, up £18.50 from the price from the 2024 festival, and were sold exclusively through the See Tickets website.
The date for the resale – where tickets not fully paid for are put back up for purchase – is set for some time in spring.
The headliners last summer on the iconic Pyramid Stage were Dua Lipa, SZA and Coldplay, who made history as the first act to headline the festival five times.
2026 is likely to be a year off for Glastonbury, with the festival traditionally taking place four out of every five years, and the fifth year reserved for rehabilitation of the land.
Ofcom received 825 complaints over the Brit Awards, with the majority relating to Sabrina Carpenter’s raunchy performance and Charli XCX’s outfit, the media watchdog says.
US pop star Carpenter, 25, sported a red sparkly military-style blazer dress for her performance at the awards show on Saturday night, paired with stockings and suspenders for a rendition of Espresso.
The song was mixed with a Rule Britannia mash-up, as dancers in military parade dress followed her.
She then switched to a red sparkly bra and shorts for her next song, Bad Chem, which she performed alongside dancers in bras and shorts while sitting suggestively on a large bed.
Image: Sabrina Carpenter performing her second song. Pic: Reuters
Carpenter later received the global success award at the ceremony, and was also nominated in the international artist and international song of the year categories.
But much of the buzz on social media surrounded her performance, which took place before the 9pm watershed.
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The singer addressed the concerns during her acceptance speech for artist of the year, saying: “I heard that ITV were complaining about my nipples. I feel like we’re in the era of ‘free the nipple’ though, right?”
Carpenter paid tribute to the UK in her acceptance speech, saying: “The Brits have given me this award, and this feels like such an insane honour in a very primarily tea-drinking country… you really understood my dry sense of humour because your sense of humour is so, so dry. So I love y’all more than you even understand.”
Actor Noel Clarke begins his High Court libel case against The Guardian’s publisher today.
Clarke, 49, is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) over a series of articles it published about him in April 2021.
They were based on the claims of 20 women Clarke knew “in a professional capacity” who allege his behaviour towards them amounted to sexual misconduct.
Clarke, known for his roles in the Kidulthood trilogy and Dr Who, “vehemently” denies “any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing”.
What will the trial cover?
Clarke is suing GNM for libel, sometimes also referred to as defamation.
It’s a civil tort – not a criminal offence – defined as false written statements that have damaged the person’s reputation. This means Clarke can seek redress or damages but no one will face charges or prison.
Clarke claims the articles The Guardian published in 2021 altered public opinion of him, damaged his reputation, and lost him work.
He said after the allegations emerged: “In a 20-year career, I have put inclusivity and diversity at the forefront of my work and never had a complaint made against me.
“If anyone who has worked with me has ever felt uncomfortable or disrespected, I sincerely apologise. I vehemently deny any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing and intend to defend myself against these false allegations.”
The Guardian is defending the claim on the basis of truth and public interest.
It said in its statement: “Our reporting on Noel Clarke in 2021 was based on the accounts of 20 brave women. After we published our first article, more women came forward.
“At trial, 32 witnesses are set to testify against Mr Clarke under oath. We look forward to a judge hearing the evidence.”
The trial will only focus on liability – not the amount of damages to be paid if Clarke is successful.
The actor tried and failed to get the case struck out in January, with his legal team saying it had “overwhelming evidence” of “perversion of the course of justice”.
His lawyers told the High Court three of the journalists involved in the articles had “deliberately and permanently” deleted messages, which meant he could not get a fair trial.
Lawyers for GNM told the court there was “no adequate evidential basis” for Clarke’s application for a strike out and said it sought “to smear Guardian journalists and editors without any proper justification”.
The trial, which will be presided over by judge Mrs Justice Steyn, is expected to last between four and six weeks.
Image: In July 2015. Pic: PA
What has happened since the articles were published?
A month before the articles about him were published in April 2021, Clarke received BAFTA’s outstanding contribution to British cinema award.
However, once the allegations against him emerged, he was suspended by the organisation and the prize rescinded.
His management and production company 42M&P told Sky News they were no longer representing him and Sky cancelled its TV show Bulletproof, starring Clarke and Top Boy actor Ashley Walters as the lead roles.
ITV also decided to pull the finale of another of his dramas, Viewpoint, following the Guardian articles.
The Met Police looked into the allegations against Clarke for any potential criminal wrongdoing, but in March 2022 announced they “did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation”.
Clarke filed the libel claim the following month and has attended several of the preliminary hearings in person.
He says he has faced a “trial by media” – and that the ordeal has left him suicidal and in need of professional help.
Image: At the UK premiere of Kidulthood in London’s Leicester Square in 2006. Pic: PA
‘Rising star’
Clarke made his TV debut in a revived version of Auf Wiedersehen Pet in 2002.
Soon after he played Mickey Smith in Dr Who and Kwame in the six-part Channel 4 series Metrosexuality.
He wrote and starred in the film trilogy Kidulthood, Adulthood, and Brotherhood, which were based in west London, where he grew up, and explored the lives of a group of teenagers given time off school after a bullied classmate takes their own life.
It was a box office success and eventually saw Clarke given BAFTA’s rising star prize in 2009.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.