Matt LeBlanc has dismissed claims that he is quitting acting, labeling the rumors as ‘nonsense’.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the former Friends star, 57, has become a ‘recluse’ since the tragic death of former co-star and close friend Matthew Perry last October.
But according to the Daily mirror, his agent has labeled the stop talk as ‘nonsense’.
A source had previously claimed that Perry’s death had made LeBlanc ‘reconsider’ his own life choices.
An insider told this Daily email: “Such an important part of (Matt’s) life and a good friend are gone. It has made him reconsider his life.
“He wants to focus on other interests because that’s what’s important to him at the moment.
“He would need the perfect opportunity to return in front of the camera for any role in TV and film as he has quietly retired.
“He is financially stable and doesn’t really want to be in the spotlight anymore.”
One of LeBlanc’s last TV appearances was in 2021, when he joined HBO Special Friends Reunion, which brought him back together with co-stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer and Perry.
The castmates said in a joint statement after Perry’s death: “We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew.
“We were more than just castmates. We are a family. There is so much to say, but right now we are going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”
RadarOnline.com revealed on Wednesday, LeBlanc’s co-stars Aniston and Cox have been reaching out to him regularly after he bore the brunt of Perry’s drug-induced death.
A source said Aniston has spent “a lot of time with Matt at his house… cooking for him, or just hanging out and watching movies, or sitting and chatting.
‘She even stayed over a few times. And both she and Courteney We have been in contact to make sure at least one of them is around to keep an eye on him.”
In addition to being friends with Perry on the hit sitcom, the pair were close in real life and were neighbors around the time of the Chandler Bing star’s death, both living in Pacific Palisades.
Although the actor, who is reportedly worth $85 million, will never have to work again, friends are reportedly worried that grief could consume him if he doesn’t have a project to focus on.
This isn’t the first time LeBlanc has been concerned about not being seen in public often.
He told an interviewer earlier in 2012 that he is more introverted than his character Joey Tribbiani, who made him so famous.
He said: “People will always ask me if I am okay because I am much calmer and reserved than my character in the film. Friends.
“They think I’m depressed or sad or angry, but I just don’t feel like going out in front of an audience and doing a TV show. That’s not who I am.”
Perry died on October 28 last year at the age of 54 after being found unconscious in the hot tub of his LA home.
It was determined that his death was caused by “acute effects of ketamine.”
In August, five people were arrested in connection with his death, supplying him with drugs that led to it his overdose.