'Bloated and Reclusive' Matt LeBlanc Trashes Talk He's Retiring From Showbiz As 'Rubbish' Amid Grief Over Matthew Perry's Death
Friends star Matt LeBlanc has shot down claims he's set to quit fame.
Nov. 1 2024, Published 3:44 p.m. ET
Matt LeBlanc has brushed off claims he's retiring from acting, branding the rumors "rubbish".
RadarOnline.com can reveal the former Friends star, 57, has become a "recluse" since the tragic passing of former co-star and close pal Matthew Perry last October.
LeBlanc has been a 'recluse' since his close pal and former Friends co-star Matthew Perry passed away last October.
But according to the Daily Mirror, his agent has blasted the quit talk as “rubbish”.
A source had previously claimed Perry’s passing had made LeBlanc “rethink” his own life choices.
LeBlanc has reportedly been reevaluating his life since Perry's death.
An insider told the DailyMail: "Such an important part of (Matt's) life and a good friend is gone. It has made him rethink his life.
"He wants to focus on other interests as that's what is important to him right now.
"He would need the perfect opportunity to return in front of the camera for any role in TV and film as he has silently retired.
"He is financially stable and doesn't really want to be in the limelight anymore."
One of LeBlanc's last TV appearances was in 2021, when he took part in the HBO Friends' Reunion special, which brought him back together with co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Perry.
The castmates said in a joint statement in the wake of Perry's death: "We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew.
"We were more than just cast mates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss."
LeBlanc is being comforted regularly by Friends co-stars Jennifer Aniston and Courteney Cox.
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RadarOnline.com revealed on Wednesday LeBlanc's co-stars Aniston and Cox have been regularly checking in on him, after he was hit hardest by Perry's drug-fuelled death.
A source said Aniston has "been spending a lot of time with Matt at his home... cooking for him, or just hanging out and watching movies, or sitting and chatting.
"She's even stayed over a couple of times. And both she and Courteney have been in contact to ensure at least one of them is around to keep an eye on him."
As well as being pals with Perry on the hit sitcom, the pair were close in real life and were neighbours around the time of the Chandler Bing star's passing, both living in Pacific Palisades.
While the actor, worth a reported $85million, never needs to work again, friends are reportedly worried that without a project to focus on, grief could consume him.
This isn't the first time LeBlanc has attracted concern for not being seen in public often.
He previously told an interviewer in 2012 he is more introverted than his character of Joey Tribbiani who made him so famous.
He said: "People will always ask me if I'm all right, because I'm much more low-key and reserved than my character in Friends.
LeBlanc claims he's nothing like his lovable Friends character Joey Tribbiani.
"They think that I'm depressed, or I'm sad or upset - but I'm just not amped up to go out in front of an audience and do a TV show. That's not who I am."
Perry died on October 28 last year at age 54 after being found unresponsive in the hot tub of his LA home.
His death was determined to have been caused by "acute effects of ketamine".
In August, five people were arrested in connection to his death - supplying him with drugs that led to his overdose.
Doctors Salvador Plasencia, and Mark Chavez, alleged drug dealers Jasveen 'Ketamine Queen' Sangha, and Eric Fleming, and Perry's live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, have all been charged.
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