A heartfelt letter handwritten by Jennifer Aniston to her Friends co-star Matthew Perry has been withdrawn from a charity auction of the late actor’s personal belongings, The Independent has confirmed.
The note, which appears to be written around the time the hit sitcom ended in 2004, was originally listed alongside items including a signed Friends script and Perry’s leather wallet before being quietly pulled from sale.
Heritage Auctions told The Independent that the letter had been removed from the sale while declining to comment further.
Aniston’s representatives did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment.
In the letter, Aniston assured Perry that she’d always be there for him, in light of his addiction to drugs and alcohol that had clouded his years on Friends, and encouraged him to look positively into the future.
open image in galleryShe wrote: “Matty! Oh my God….How am [I] going to live without your light in my life on a daily basis? I know that the light has been dimmed at times and there were moments I was so scared it was going to go out all together. You have always come back.”
“Thank you for choosing to live this life. You have so much to give and not just to the masses with your talent but as a friend and a husband and a father,” she wrote.
“We have come a long way baby. Since that night we met at that bar who’s name I can’t remember…. Anyway…. I love you dear friend.”
“I am so proud of you and I am always here for you. You may not think to call me but I am always here. This has been quite a [sic] we have shared and I so cherish it and you. I love you.”
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
The handwritten appeared alongside a typed poem, which said: “It’s all about love / and trusting your feelings / and finding your center / and being yourself / and following your heart / and knowing the way / and giving them ot others….”
The poem concluded with the last three lines: “And loving the questions / and embracing the mystery / and beginning again.” Aniston signed off the poem with a hand-drawn love-heart.
open image in galleryThe letter was tucked into an album of photos taken at the cast’s private final wrap party in 2004, which was treasured by Perry.
The auction, which will be held on Friday, June 5, by Heritage Auctions, will benefit the Matthew Perry Foundation, a nonprofit that was set up in his name to support people living with addiction — a cause that he was passionate about during his life due to his own experiences with alcohol and drug addiction.
Perry was 54 when he was found dead in his hot tub in October 2023. An autopsy revealed his cause of death was due to the “acute effects” of ketamine, and the woman who provided the drugs — known as the “ketamine queen” — was sentenced last month to 15 years in prison. Perry’s assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, was sentenced last week to 41 months in prison for one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine, which led to the actor’s death.
open image in galleryItems in the auction include Banksy’s Girl with Balloon, which is expected to be the top lot and could fetch more than $800,000. The sale also features Friends memorabilia, including scripts from the sitcom, among them a signed copy of the 2004 finale, which currently carries a bid of $512,000 but is expected to rise further when bidding closes on Friday.
Other Friends memorabilia includes one of the programme’s iconic peephole frames, which was owned personally by Perry.
Perry’s fixation on Batman was evident in the auction, too. He spent $20 million on a 10,000 square-foot “mansion in the sky” complete with a “bat cave” to live out his Bruce Wayne fantasies, which he kitted out with many of the items now on auction, including several figurines, a Batman-themed ping pong table, gaming chair, comic books and a framed 3D portrait of Perry titled “Mattman.”