Bruce Willis’ wife, the model and entrepreneur Emma Hemming Willis, has spoken out against some of the reporting around Matthew Perry’s death.
In the past year, Emma has spoken candidly in the media about adapting to her husband’s ongoing health issues, after sharing that he had been diagnosed with dementia in February.
Shortly after disclosing the actor’s condition, Emma urged paparazzi photographers to give him “space”, and was critical of the media again in an Instagram post shared on Monday evening.
Referring specifically to news reports about Matthew Perry’s autopsy and the leaking of a phone call to emergency services, Emma wrote: “This level of lookie-loo and entitlement is god awful and I will never understand it.
“Let this man rest in peace and show some respect. Give his family and friends grace to mourn and grieve without all this noise.”
She added: “Please allow Matthew’s family to control this narrative. Please allow them the right to share what they see fit with the public or not.
“Nothing is owed to us. Matthew is not public property. If it has not come from them directly, then it is just noise and keep scrolling.”
Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry worked together on several occasions over the years, including in the film The Whole Nine Yards and during the sixth season of Friends, in which Bruce played Rachel Green’s love interest Paul Stevens.
In his 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers And The Big Terrible Thing, Matthew referred to his friend and former co-star as “a good-hearted man”, “a caring man” and “selfless”, as well as a “wonderful parent”, “wonderful actor” and “most important, a good guy”.
He later wrote on X (the social media site formerly known as Twitter) that the Sixth Sense star was “still the coolest man I’ve met in my entire life”.