Matt LeBlanc is paying tribute to his “Friends” co-star Matthew Perry, 54, who died Oct. 28 at his California home of an apparent drowning.
LeBlanc penned a touching tribute Tuesday via Instagram about Perry, nearly a week after he paid his respects at the late actor’s funeral in LA.
“Matthew,” he began. “It is with a heavy heart I say goodbye. The times we had together are honestly among the favorite times of my life. It was an honor 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.”
He added: “Spread your wings and fly brother you’re finally free. Much love. And I guess you’re keeping the 20 bucks you owe me.”
Along with the cheeky final jab, LeBlanc included a carousel of photos of the pair on the beloved sitcom and with the rest of the cast.
LeBlanc played Joey Tribbiani, who was roommates and best friends with Perry’s Chandler Bing on “Friends,” which aired on NBC from 1994 to 2004.
The pair were known for their on-screen high jinks — “Could I be wearing any more clothes” — and they maintained a friendship off-screen as well.
“Courteney [Cox] and Lisa [Kudrow] are like my big sisters, but Jen [Aniston]’s like my little sister,” LeBlanc, 56, told People in 2015 after he and Perry didn’t score invites to Aniston’s wedding to Justin Theroux.
“Matthew’s like my little brother, and David [Schwimmer]’s like my big brother. That’s how it all broke down. And it’s literally just like chronological,” LeBlanc said of the “Friends” cast.
LeBlanc and Perry did reunite in London in 2016 — LeBlanc saw Perry perform in the play “The End of Longing” while he was in town co-hosting the BBC car series “Top Gear.”
They also had memorable London scenes for “Friends” in 1998.
Read more about Matthew Perry’s life and struggles:
- ‘I had a 2 percent chance to live’: Matthew Perry opens up about addiction in new memoir
- Matthew Perry: I ‘was so dead inside’ during ‘Friends’ finale, I ‘felt nothing’
- Matthew Perry reveals what made him quit drugs: ‘It was pretty hellish’
- Matthew Perry reveals ‘Friends’ co-stars confronted him about sobriety
- Matthew Perry admits he ‘probably spent $9 million’ trying to get sober
“I saw him yesterday. I love that guy! I can not see him for five years and then get in a room together and still have that shorthand with each other,” LeBlanc said of Perry during his 2016 summer press tour for “Man with a Plan,” per Hello magazine.
“It’s amazing, really. Ten years in a building with no windows and the doors locked, we got to know each other pretty well,” he added.
In 2019, LeBlanc told James Corden on “The Late Late Show” about playing hockey with Perry for a celebrity event in the mid-1990s.
“I was so embarrassed,” LeBlanc said of wearing out-of-date, moldy gear from his childhood.
In 2021, the “Friends” cast reunited for an HBO Max special.
“After the show was over at a party or any kind of social gathering, if one of us bumped into each other, that was it, that was the end of the night. You just sat with the person all night long,” Perry explained at the reunion.
“It’s true, I remember that,” LeBlanc replied.
Perry added, “You apologized to the people you were with, but they had to understand you had met somebody special to you and you were going to talk to that person for the rest of the night.”
The Post reached out to LeBlanc’s reps for comment.