Matt LeBlanc was seen for the first time since the tragic death of Matthew Perry, at the age of 54, on Saturday while going for a drive in Los Angeles.
Two days after paying tribute to his late pal in a heartfelt statement, alongside the rest of the tight-knit Friends cast, the Golden Globe winner, 56, looked somber as he continues to grieve the loss of his beloved former costar, who he considered family.
As he cruised around in his black G-Wagen, the father-of-one attempted to keep a low profile under a pair of black shades and baseball cap.
Earlier this week, he released a joint official statement, with Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox and David Schwimmer, about feeling heartbroken over news that Perry had died from an apparent drowning at his Pacific Palisades home.
Grieving: Matt LeBlanc was seen for the first time since the tragic death of Matthew Perry, at the age of 54, on Saturday while going for a drive in Los Angeles
Rough week: Two days after paying tribute to his late pal in a heartfelt statement , alongside the rest of the tight-knit Friends cast, the Golden Globe winner, 56, looked somber as he continues to grieve the loss of his beloved former costar, who he considered family
‘We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,’ they told People. ‘There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.’
The stars continued: ‘In time we will say more, as and when we are able,’ the statement continues. ‘For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.’
Perry famously starred as Chandler Bing in the popular sitcom, alongside Aniston as Rachel, Cox as Monica, LeBlanc as Joey, Kudrow as Phoebe and Schwimmer as Ross.
Friends, which followed the lives of six friends in their 20s living in New York, was a smash hit across the globe when it aired between 1994 and 2004, and re-runs still remain hugely popular years later.
While speaking about his and Perry’s friendship in 2016, LeBlanc raved that they could go ‘five years and then get in a room together and still have that shorthand with each other.’
The year prior, he described LeBlanc as his ‘little brother’ and Schwimmer as his ‘big brother’ to People.
On Sunday, a source Page Six that the cast is ‘reeling’ from the loss of their ‘brother’ Matthew.
‘The cast is reeling from the loss of their brother, because that’s what Matty was — their brother,’ an industry source told the news outlet, adding: ‘It’s just devastating.’
Perry was found underwater in his hot tub by his assistant, who lifted his head up to try to get him some air, first responders have revealed.
But, by the time the Los Angeles Fire Department, arrived at the Friends star’s Pacific Palisades home on Saturday and lifted him out of the jacuzzi, he was already dead.
Laying low: As he cruised around in his black G-Wagen, the father-of-one attempted to keep a low profile under a pair of black shades and baseball cap
Devastated: Earlier this week, he released a joint official statement, with Jennifer Aniston , Lisa Kudrow , Courteney Cox and David Schwimmer , about feeling heartbroken over news that Perry had died from an apparent drowning at his Pacific Palisades home
Captain Erik Scott, with the LAFD said: ‘Los Angeles City Firefighters responded [and] found an adult male unconscious in a stand-alone hot tub.
‘A bystander had brought the man’s head above the water and gotten him to the edge, then firefighters removed him from the water upon their arrival.
‘A rapid medical assessment, sadly, revealed the man was deceased prior to first responder arrival.
‘The circumstances are under investigation by LAPD and the LA County Medical Examiner. We mourn with families and friends who lose a loved one unexpectedly.’
Perry is believed to have drowned, although an official cause of death has not yet been determined.
‘We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,’ they told People . ‘There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss’
The megastars were all last seen together during the 2021 HBO Max reunion special hosted by James Corden (center)
An initial autopsy result has been ‘deferred’, with toxicology reports set to follow. It comes after a 15-second dispatch call emerged revealing the moment his assistant called 911 to report a cardiac arrest.
The recording of the moment emergency services rushed to the scene was shared which describes a drowning – known as an Emergency Medical Situation 9.
A first responder can be heard saying: ‘Agent 23. Rescue 23. EMS 9 on the radio. In response to the drowning.’
The actor was open about his battles with opiates and booze, but said he was clean in recent interviews.
First responders are said to have found anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications at the property – but there was no sign of any illegal drugs.
The coroner for Los Angeles County has listed Perry’s cause of death as ‘deferred’, pending the final results of toxicology tests.
On Sunday afternoon, the coroner released his body to the family, but said they are yet to determine a cause of death.
The Medical Examiner’s office can release initial results within days, or it can take six to eight weeks for final results of toxicology tests to come back.
Famous friends: Perry famously starred as Chandler Bing in the popular sitcom, alongside Aniston as Rachel, Cox as Monica, LeBlanc as Joey, Kudrow as Phoebe and Schwimmer as Ross
Family friends have said the star seemed ‘fatigued’ in his last days, and in his final post on Instagram, shared earlier this week, he posted images of him in his pool.
The caption read: ‘Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I’m Mattman.’
Perry wrote in his memoir, published last year, that he had spent $9 million trying to get sober, revealing he had been to 6,000 AA meetings, gone to rehab 15 times, and been in detox 65 times.
He said he overcame addiction in 2021 and was believed to be leading a healthier lifestyle.
He had taken up pickle ball – a game similar to tennis and table tennis – and usually played it twice a day, friends said.
The stars continued: ‘In time we will say more, as and when we are able,’ the statement continues. ‘For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world’ (pictured in 2002)
Sad: Family friends have said the star seemed ‘fatigued’ in his last days, and in his final post on Instagram, shared earlier this week, he posted images of him in his pool; Perry a snap in his hot tub just a week before his death
Last year, Perry revealed that he and Aniston had stayed in each other’s lives, and remained in close contact.
‘She was the one that reached out the most,’ the star said of the actress who played Rachel Green during an interview in October 2022. ‘You know, I’m really grateful to her for that.’
Perry went on to reveal that it was Aniston who confronted him first about his addictions during the filming of their hit sitcom when the symptoms were just to evident to ignore.
‘We know you’re drinking,’ Aniston, now 54, told Perry at the time in the four-word warning, during a break in the shooting of Friends back when it was massively popular with fans.
‘Yeah, imagine how scary a moment that was,’ the actor said of his co-star during the conversation with ABC’s Diane Sawyer.
Stardom: Friends, which followed the lives of six friends in their 20s living in New York, was a smash hit across the globe when it aired between 1994 and 2004, and re-runs still remain hugely popular years later; the cast seen in 1999
‘I should have been the toast of the town, but I was in a dark room meeting with nothing but drug dealers and completely alone,’ he would add, in a reference to his addiction.
When sharing about his substance abuse and the toll it began to take on his body, The Whole Nine Yards star confessed he was taking as many as 55 Vicodin pills a day, which contributed to his weight dropping to just 128 pounds.
‘I didn’t know how to stop,’ Perry admitted in an interview with People last year, before sharing an analogy that explains the power the drugs and alcohol had over him at the height of his TV career.
‘If the police came over to my house and said, “If you drink tonight, we’re going to take you to jail,” I’d start packing. I couldn’t stop because the disease and the addiction is progressive. So it gets worse and worse as you grow older,’ he explained.
In his own mind, Perry thought he was doing a perfectly fine job hiding his drug and alcohol usage from his co-stars, but at a certain point they all knew he was in trouble and did their best to support him.
Pals: Last year, Perry revealed that he and Aniston had stayed in each other’s lives, and remained in close contact as he revealed she ‘was the one that reached out the most’ (Jennifer and Matthew seen in 1995)
‘[They] were understanding, and they were patient,’ he recalled of the Friends cast. ‘It’s like penguins. Penguins, in nature, when one is sick, or when one is very injured, the other penguins surround it and prop it up. They walk around it until that penguin can walk on its own. That’s kind of what the cast did for me.’
For a while, Perry thought he could hide behind his infectious humor, and push forward with his life on the wings of the success of Friends.
‘I thought being funny all the time was how I would get through,’ he said. ‘I thought [Friends] was going to fix everything. It didn’t.’
Ultimately, Perry would get clean and sober in 2001, but he estimated that he relapsed ’60 or 70 times’ over the years, according to his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing.
Lifeline: The actor revealed that part of his inspiration for writing his 2022 memoir – Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing – was the hope that his stories could serve as kind of lifeline for others like Aniston was for him
Along the way he had many stints in rehabilitation facilities and suffered through a number of serious health issues, including a five-month hospitalization in 2018 after his colon ruptured due to opioid overuse.
He was given just a two percent chance to live at one point while in the hospital, Perry confessed in the memoir, but in the end he would survive.
‘I’m an extremely grateful guy. I’m grateful to be alive, that’s for sure. And that gives me the possibility to do anything,” he shared with obvious emotion during the People interview in 2022.
Perry went on to reveal that part of his inspiration for writing an open and honest memoir, with all the ups and downs, was the hope that his stories could serve as kind of lifeline for others like Aniston was for him.