Matthew Perry worries Friends fans as he appears to slur and stammer in reunion promo

Fans of Friends are expressing their concern after star Matthew Perry appeared to slur his speech in a promo for the upcoming reunion special.

It was hard to overlook Perry’s awkward demeanor as he sat with he co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Matt LeBlanc to tease the show, which was shot in April and will air on May 27 via HBO and HBO Max. 

The 51-year-old actor stammered and stared while with the group, even slurring together his words at one point.

When asked if he ever took anything from set as a souvenir, he admitted: ‘I stole the cookie jar that had the clock on it’ with a heavy ‘sh’ sound at the start of ‘stole.’

Though his speech was stilted, Matthew’s physical appearance was on the healthier side, showing less ruddy skin and a pearly white smile.

His castmates were able to hide any of their concerns, as David and Matt giggled and smiled at the TV star, who played Chandler Bing on the NBC hit. 

But fans were quick to voice their worries.

‘Just saw People interview and can’t believe how Matthew Perry looks like… seriously it breaks my heart,’ one fan wrote on Twitter.

‘It pains me to see Matthew Perry like this, he just seems off, gazing at the void, speaking slowly,’ wrote another.

‘Hate to say it, but I’m sad and scared like hell for Matthew Perry,’ a third added. ‘Damn, Matthew Perry in those PEOPLE Friends interviews.’ 

Another tweeted: ‘Just watched @people exclusive interview clip of Friends casts and the time hasn’t been kind. I hope Matthew Perry is okay. Damn how much I love them.’

Others had jokes, with a Twitter user saying: ‘When Matthew Perry heard there would be a “Friends” reunion, he thought he’d be reuniting with his friend cocaine.’ 

One more reminded others to be kind, writing: ‘Let’s not use the friends reunion to make fun of the way matthew perry looks these days. people age, funnily enough.

‘Matthew has been through A LOT since friends wrapped up in 2004. be respectful instead of judgmental. hard block me rn if you think making fun of him is funny.’

Perry has been open about his past struggles with addiction, previously telling People things got ‘out of control and very unhealthy’ after a 1997 jet-ski accident left him addicted to the painkiller Vicodin.

Addiction left Matthew in a tough state, as he admitted to BBC Radio 2 in 2016.

‘I don’t remember three years of [the show],’ he said. ‘Somewhere between Seasons 3 and 6 … I was a little out of it.’

The awkward teaser comes after Perry was embarrassed after a match from the dating app Raya leaked a video message sent by the star.

The Friends actor allegedly asked the 19-year-old girl, ‘Am I as old as your dad?’ during a flirty exchange. 

Perry, who is currently engaged to fiancée Molly Hurwitz, 29, can be seen in a video posted on Thursday flirting with TikTok user @kittynichole – real name Kate Haralson – who claims they matched on the membership-only dating service in May last year.

Haralson, now 20, shared the footage of herself with the caption: ‘When you match w Matthew Perry as a joke on a dating app and he facetimes you and plays 20 questions with you.’

In the 16-second video, Perry is seen smiling as he asks his potential date, ‘Do you always play with your hair this much?’ to which she responds, giggling: ‘I guess so.’ 

Haralson, a personal assistant who says she was 19 when Perry first contacted her, told PageSix on Thursday that she wanted to show how older men in Hollywood are ‘taking advantage’ of younger women on dating apps. 

‘A lot of people were saying I’m a bully and mean for posting this, and it made me feel kind of bad, but at the same time, I feel like a lot of guys in Hollywood are talking to all these young girls and it’s something that I think a lot of people should be aware of,’ she told the outlet. 

Haralson claims the FaceTime exchange happened in May last year, which is when Perry is said to have briefly split with his current fiancée Hurwitz, who he had been dating since 2018.

The LA-based PA said she had matched with other celebrities before but wouldn’t ‘ever talk to older guys’ though she thought talking to the Friends actor ‘would be funny.’ 

While Perry’s Friends teaser and ill-suited Raya match-up caused some concerns, fans were thrilled to get the very first teaser for the upcoming special on Wednesday,

It’s quite the homecoming for the actors, which shot the special at Stage 24 at Warner Bros. Studios in LA, where the series shots it’s entire 10-season run 

The opening scene was certainly familiar as Aniston joined Cox and LeBlanc on their old couch for an updated trivia game with Schwimmer, Kudrow and Perry.  

Recreating a memorable moment from the show, David’s character, Ross Geller, stood at the trivia board. 

‘Rachel wrote Ross a letter and demanded he read it before they got back together. How many pages was that letter?’ he asked the group.  

Matt, who played Joey Tribbiani, screamed ’18 pages’ only for Aniston to correct him: ‘front and back!’

Courteney screamed back, ‘Wait, wait do it one more time!’

Lisa Kudrow was overwhelmed upon walking onto set at the Warner Bros. lot as Matt enthusiastically said: ‘Here we go!’ 

Jennifer proved to be already emotional as she asked: ‘Where’s the tissue box?’  

‘Does Courteney still have her lines written on the table?’ Matt asked as he toured the old apartment set.

‘We have such a bond from this show,’ Lisa explained while sitting on the iconic orange couch from the show’s intro.

‘Were Ross and Rachel on a break?’ host James Corden asked the group, to which Jennifer and Courteney yelled ‘yes!’

Matt picked up his cup of coffee and muttered ‘bulls***’ under his breath while David laughed and pointed.

Lisa admitted the first table read was the ‘first time I laid eyes on any of you’ while Schwimmer noted everyone was ‘so perfectly cast.’

‘I remember I went to the producer of the show that I was on and he said, “That show’s not going to make you a star,'” Jennifer recalled.

In one of many touching moments, Jennifer leaned down to comfort Perry as he stuttered through his words and said: ‘I’m going to cry now.’

Friends ran for 10 seasons from 1994 to 2004, and was created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, who executive produced the series with Kevin Bright through Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television. 

It was reported in April that the reunion special was filmed over three days, with a live audience participating in the reunion.

A host of celebrities are set to join the cast in some capacity with guest stars including: Justin Bieber, Cindy Crawford, Lady Gaga and David Beckham.

Cara Delevingne, Tom Selleck, BTS, Kit Harington, Mindy Kaling and Malala Yousafzai are also slated to appear on the reunion.

The HBO Max special debuts on May 27.