“Saturday Night Live” paid tribute to Matthew Perry, hours after the news of his death broke.
The broadcast showed a picture of Perry coupled with a moment of silence right before the episode’s goodnights segment. Nate Bargatze was the episode’s host.
Perry, best known for playing Chandler Bing on “Friends,” died on Saturday. He was 54. According to the LA Times, Perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home.
The actor hosted “Saturday Night Live” in 1997 with musical guest Oasis.
Perry portrayed the beloved, sarcastic Chandler on “Friends,” which ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004. He received one Primetime Emmy nomination in 2002 for the ninth season. Perry also appeared in “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” “Go On,” “The Odd Couple” and “The West Wing.” He scored two more Emmy nominations in 2003 and 2004 for his role as Joe Quincy on the Aaron Sorkin political drama.
In 2022, Perry opened up about his struggle with alcohol and drugs in his memoir, “Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing,” revealing he was only sober for one Season 9 — the ninth —of “Friends,” and battled for most of his life.
In the book, he says at one point he was taking 55 Vicodin a day, has attended 6,000 AA meetings, had 14 surgeries and gone to rehab 15 times. He decided to write the book with hopes to help others going through any sort of addiction struggles.
In 2018, Perry’s colon exploded and he spent two weeks in a coma; his family was told he had a 2% chance to live. After he survived, he lived with a colostomy bag for nine months.
Since the news of his death, many celebrities have honored the comedian, including Paget Brewster, who starred on the show for six episodes an played his love interest, Kathy. “I’m so very sad to hear about @MatthewPerry. He was lovely to me on Friends and every time I saw him in the decades after,” she tweeted. “Please read his book. It was his legacy to help. He won’t rest in peace though.. He’s already too busy making everyone laugh up there.”
