Why ‘Friends’ cast was left out of late Matthew Perry’s 2024 Emmys tribute

Friends cast members are still grieving their late co-star Matthew Perry.

When the 2024 Emmy Awards paid a touching tribute to Perry, playing a sentimental version of the Friends theme song during the Memoriam segment, Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow, and Matt LeBlanc were notably missing from the crowd.

The Recording Academy spilled to the Hollywood Reporter Tuesday that the group simply wasn’t invited.

Executive producer Jeanne Rouzan-Clay further explained, “It’s still very fresh for them.”

Though the EPs had considered sending out invites to the remaining five Friends cast, “From their side, they’re mourning someone who was still very close to them.”

EP Jesse Collins noted, “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.”

Perry – who tragically passed away on October 28, 2015, at the age of 54 – was remembered during the ceremony’s annual In Memoriam tribute on Monday.

The segment also honored other stars lost last year, including Andre Braugher, Len Goodman, Barbara Walters, Lance Reddick, Paul Reubens, and Kirstie Alley.