Call it the one where the Emmys honor Matthew Perry‘s legacy.
Nearly three months after the Friends actor died from the acute effects of ketamine, the 2023 Emmy Awards remembered him with a touching tribute by playing the show’s theme song “I’ll Be There For You” during the in memoriam segment. The photo montage concluded with an image of Perry.
However, his Friends cast members—Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer—were not involved in the special segment on the Jan. 15 broadcast.
As Emmys executive producer Jeannae Rouzan-Clay told The Hollywood Reporter Jan. 16, “It’s still very fresh for them.”
Fellow executive producer Jesse Collins noted that the team had discussed bringing the Friends cast together “early on” in the Emmys planning process.
“But I can imagine, from their side, they’re mourning someone who was still very close to them,” Collins shared. “I can’t speak for them, but we all have to respect that they were their own family. It was probably just a little too soon.”
