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Jennifer Aniston Weighs In on How Fans Can Honor Matthew Perry After Death: ‘Celebrate Him’
Jennifer Aniston weighed in on how fans can honor her late friend and former costar Matthew Perry following his death in October 2023.
When asked how fans can remember Matthew, Jennifer, 54, had a simple response. “Celebrate him,” she told Entertainment Tonight at the Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, January 14.
Matthew died on October 28, 2023, at his Los Angeles home at the age of 54. It later was confirmed that he died from acute effects of ketamine, according to his autopsy released in December 2023.
Following Matthew’s death, Jennifer and their Friends costars Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc released a joint statement expressing their grief on October 30, 2023.
“We are all so utterly devastated,” the former costars wrote at the time. “We were more than just cast mates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve.”
The group later reunited on November 3, 2023, to attend Matthew’s funeral, while they also shared individual tributes to the Massachusetts native on their social media pages.
“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,” Jennifer wrote via Instagram on November 15, 2023. “We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love. 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 6 of us.”
The Morning Show actress continued, “This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path was going to be. For Matty, he KNEW he loved to make people laugh. As he said himself, if he didn’t hear the ‘laugh’ he thought he was going to die. His life literally depended on it. And boy did he succeed in doing just that. He made all of us laugh. And laugh hard. In the last couple weeks, I’ve been pouring over our texts to one another. Laughing and crying then laughing again. I’ll keep them forever and ever.”
The Friends cast has continued to lean on each other during the difficult time, while an insider exclusively told In Touch in December 2023 that they were planning a private party to celebrate Matthew’s legacy.
“It was always their plan to get together just the five of them, so they could feel comfortable about saying whatever’s on their minds,” the source explained, adding that the gathering would take place at Jennifer’s Bel-Air home. “They’ll reminisce about some of their favorite times with Matt and share stories and laugh and cry.”
The insider said that the funeral was “mainly for Matt’s family,” and his costars “held back out of respect for them.”
“There will undoubtedly be tears,” the source said about the celebration.
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