Jennifer Aniston shares a text message from Friends costar Matthew Perry to her in a touching tribute two weeks after his tragic death: ‘We loved him very much’
Jennifer Aniston was ready to say goodbye to her longtime boyfriend Matthew Perry on Wednesday morning, just over two weeks after his untimely death at the age of 54.
The 54-year-old Morning Show star shared an emotional post on Instagram as a tribute to her late Friends costar, who was tragically found dead in his home on October 28.
Aniston included a sweet text that Perry sent her sometime in the past in which he mentioned how he could make her laugh, something she said was of great importance to him.
Her tribute arrived a day after her fellow costars Matt LeBlanc and Courteney Cox both shared their own tributes to their fallen friend.
In addition to her behind-the-scenes communication with Perry, Aniston added a sweet clip from Friends in which his character Chandler confessed his platonic love for her character Rachel before tearfully saying goodbye.
One final farewell: Jennifer Aniston, 54, paid tribute to her late Friends co-star Matthew Perry on Wednesday morning with a text message message he sent her before his death
“Oh boy, this one cut deep…” Aniston began her difficult farewell.
“Having to say goodbye to our Matty has been a crazy wave of emotions unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before,” she continued. “We all experience loss at some point in our lives. Loss of life or loss of love.
“If you can truly SIT in this sadness, you can feel the moments of joy and gratitude for having loved someone so deeply. And we loved him very much,” the actress stated, adding that Perry was part of the “DNA” of the Friends cast.
‘There were always six of us. This was a chosen family that forever changed the course of who we were and what our path would be,” she recalled.
Aniston also recalled Perry’s need to make everyone around him burst into laughter.
“For Matty, he KNEW he loved making people laugh. As he himself said, if he didn’t hear the ‘laughter’, he thought he would die. His life literally depended on it,” she wrote. “And boy, did he manage to do just that. He made us all laugh. And laugh out loud.’
Among her message was a short personal message that Perry had sent her via text some time ago, although she did not reveal when the exchange took place.
“Over the past few weeks I’ve been transferring our text messages to each other. Laughing and crying and then laughing again,” Aniston admitted. ‘I’ll keep them forever.
Loving moment: Aniston added a sweet clip of Perry from late in Friends’ run as his character Chandler confesses his platonic love for her character Rachel before her big move
Sweet and sour: ‘You know what? Let’s say nothing more. I love you,” Aniston’s character says through tears as she leans in for a hug with Perry, before making a fake fart noise to lighten the mood
Happier times: Aniston included a text message that Perry sent her “one day out of the blue” in which he sent her a black and white photo of the two laughing on set. “Making you laugh made my day,” he wrote
“I found a text he sent me out of the blue one day. It says it all. (See the second slide…).”
In the text message, Perry appeared to have sent her a black and white photo of the two, pictured from behind on a set – presumably during the taping of Friends – while saying something that seemed to make her grin from ear to ear.
“Making you laugh made my day,” he captioned the photo. ‘It made my day :).’
In her text, Aniston responded, “Aww, the first of THOUSANDS of times…”
In her caption, she added a loving farewell to Perry, while hoping he was now “at peace.”
“Matty, I love you so much and I know you are now completely at peace and no longer in pain,” she wrote.
“I talk to you every day…sometimes I can almost hear you saying, ‘Can you be any crazier?'” she added in a lighthearted tone, referencing one of Chandler’s catchphrases.
“Rest, brother,” she concluded. “You always made my day…”
The long run: Perry and Aniston starred on Friends for its entire run from 1994 to 2004; seen together in 1998
Gone too soon: Perry appeared to have died on October 28 from an accidental drowning in his home’s hot tub, but determining the cause of death is being delayed pending a toxicology report; seen in November 2022 in NYC
Perry’s tragic death occurred on October 28, when he was discovered underwater in his home’s hot tub by his assistant, who had briefly left his home to retrieve some items for him.
Earlier this month, Perry’s death certificate was released. Although the actor is believed to have died from accidental drowning, his cause of death has so far been postponed pending the results of a toxicology report.
According to police, only medications for which Perry had a prescription were found in his home, but the actor had previously been open about his years-long battle with addiction and drug abuse.
A new somber statement was also released Wednesday morning from Perry’s fellow Friends co-star David Schwimmer, who played Ross.
Schwimmer, 57, posted a still from Friends of one of his “favorite moments” with Perry, praising his talent for laughter and his enduring friendship.
In the humorous style, both wore designer stubble and wore brightly colored suits with rolled-up sleeves and contrasting casual shirts, inspired by Miami Vice.
“Matty, thank you for ten incredible years of laughter and creativity,” Schwimmer began in the Instagram post. “I will never forget your impeccable comedic timing and delivery. You could take a straight line of dialogue and twist it to your will, resulting in something so original and unexpectedly funny that it still surprises you.
“And you had heart. Which you were generous with and shared with us so that we could build a family from six strangers. This photo is of one of my favorite moments with you. Now it makes me laugh and sad at the same time.
“I imagine you’re out there somewhere, in the same white suit, with your hands in your pockets, looking around – ‘Could there be more clouds?’
‘You had heart’: David Schwimmer paid a touching tribute to Perry around the same time as Aniston with a still from Friends of him and Perry dressed as Miami Vice characters
Last month, the five remaining Friends leaders released a joint statement in response to Perry’s shocking death.
“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just castmates. We are a family,” Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and Schwimmer shared People. “There is so much to say, but now we are going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”
The stars continued: “Over time we will say more, if and when we are able to do so,” the statement continued. “For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends and everyone who loved him around the world.”
Perry was buried on November 3 during a simple one-hour service at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, in a ceremony attended by his Friends costars.
An onlooker told DailyMail.com: ‘Mrs Aniston was one of the first to arrive. She kept herself to herself. This is a high-profile meeting.’
His tearful mother Suzanne Morrison, 84, and stepfather of Dateline journalist Keith Morrison, 76, were both at the private event, as was his father John Perry, 82. Morrison also served as one of the pallbearers.
Located across from Warner Bros Studios, where Friends was filmed for ten seasons, the cemetery is the final resting place of a galaxy of Hollywood stars including Carrie Fisher, Bette Davis, Stan Laurel, Buster Keaton, INXS frontman Michael Hutchence and Paul Walker , Brittany Murphy and Anne Heche.