Not what friends are for! Sitcom star Matthew Perry clapped back at claims that he wasn’t looking too great in New York City recently.
The Daily Mail, which published a candid photo of him walking the streets of NYC, claimed his appearance “sparked concern” and that he looked “disheveled.” The publication provided a series of photos, including a detailed close-up of his overgrown, dirty fingernails.
Matthew Perry on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ on May 16, 2017. Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Perry, 49, who underwent major gastrointestinal surgery last summer and has a long history of health scares and drug abuse, hasn’t been photographed for some time. So the recent images, showing the former Friends star unshaven, with bags under his eyes, dressed in dark sweatpants and a stained black T-shirt, set off alarms.
As the photos started going public, Perry took to Twitter to reply as only his alter ego, Chandler Bing, would: “I’m getting a manicure this morning. That’s okay, right? I mean [sic] it says man right in the word.”
The TV actor has been hibernating as of late, taking time to recover from surgery to fix a gastrointestinal perforation that he had in August 2018. A gastrointestinal perforation occurs when a hole develops in the gastrointestinal tract, which runs from the throat to the rectum, according to the health organization Sepsis Alliance. It can be caused by diverticulitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and appendicitis, among other conditions.
Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlac and Lisa Kudrow in a press photo for season 2 of Friends. NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
At the time, Perry’s spokesperson told Us, “He is grateful for the concern and asks for continued privacy as he heals.”
The actor has always been open about his past, including rehab stints for prescription drug and alcohol abuse. He first sought treatment in 1997, then returned in 2001.
“When I was in big trouble, it was so public because I was on a TV show that 30 million people were watching,” the Friends alum, who played Chandler Bing, told The Hollywood Reporter in 2015. “The fact that I [am] on TV makes people listen a little bit more, so I take advantage of that from time to time.”
Perry opened a sober-living facility, The Perry House, in Malibu. He sold it in 2015.
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