Social media is wondering why Emmys left Matthew Perry out of In Memoriam tribute
While watching the Emmy Awards' tribute to those in the television industry recently lost, viewers couldn't help but notice the absence of one of their beloved, "Friends," Matthew Perry.
As Jelly Roll belted out his heartfelt song "I Am Not Okay," the awards show paid tribute to performers like Terry Carter, Shannen Doherty, James Earl Jones, Richard Lewis, Bob Newhart, Ryan O'Neal, Gena Rowlands, Donald Sutherland and Carl Weathers.
"How in the world did the Emmy’s not include Matthew Perry?!?!" a member of X, formerly known as Twitter, asked.
Perry died on Oct. 28, 2023 at age 54 from "the acute effects of ketamine."
"Hey,@TheEmmys and @TelevisionAcad," wrote another. "You forgot someone in your in memorium! (sic) Matthew Perry helped to change the industry and he was a great human and he deserved to be recognized tonight!"
Those viewers and others will be happy to know the Television Academy honored Perry in their January broadcast of Emmy Awards, pushed due to the Hollywood strikes.
At the ceremony earlier this year, Charlie Puth, joined on stage by husband-wife duo The War and Treaty, acoustic rendition of his hit song, "See You Again," which was originally a 2015 collaboration with rapper Wiz Khalifa dedicated to the late Paul Walker. The trio surprised the crowd at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles when Puth sang "Friends" theme song “I'll Be There for You” by The Rembrandts.
As a vignette of "The View" creator Barbara Walters dissolved on screen, a photo of Perry appeared to claps and cheers from the star-studded audience
Questions about Perry's death still remain. In August, Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, announced charges for five in connection to Perry's death.
Physician Salvador Plasencia, 42, and 41-year-old Jasveen Sangha, whom the DOJ's press release referred to as the "The Ketamine Queen" of North Hollywood, face 18 criminal counts for allegedly "distributing ketamine to Perry during the final weeks of the actor’s life." Co-conspirators named in the case are Perry's live-in assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, 59; Dr. Mark Chavez, 54 and Erik Fleming, 54, who is described as Perry's acquaintance.
Contributing: KiMi Robinson; Taijuan Moorman and Jay Stahl, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Matthew Perry's Emmys tribute: Why was star left out of In Memoriam?