By Wonderwall.com Editors
12:15pm PST, Nov 7, 2023
Saying goodbye to a beloved star
Six days after he was found unresponsive in a hot tub, Matthew Perry's family and co-stars gathered to mourn and honor the actor — who died at 54 on Oct. 28 — during a private funeral and memorial service in Los Angeles on Nov. 3.
Matthew's "Friends" co-stars — Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer — were among the limited number of guests who joined the beloved actor's parents and stepparents to say goodbye as he was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park near the Warner Bros. Studios lot where his iconic NBC sitcom was filmed, People magazine and other outlets reported.
Earlier on the same day as his funeral, Matthew's loved ones announced they'd launched a foundation in his name to continue the work he'd been doing prior to his death to support people battling addiction. "In the spirit of Matthew Perry's enduring commitment to helping others struggling with the disease of addiction, we embark on a journey to honor his legacy by establishing the Matthew Perry Foundation," the organization said in a press release, "guided by his own words and experiences, and driven by his passion for making a difference in as many lives as possible."
The star had long struggled with drugs and alcohol. He wrote candidly about his path to sobriety in his memoir, "Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing," and he also said he wrote the play "The End of Longing" as "a personal message" about addicts and "people who love people like me."
"When I die, I know people will talk about 'Friends,' 'Friends,' 'Friends' — and I'm glad of that, happy I've done some solid work as an actor, as well as given people multiple chances to make fun of my struggles on the world wide web," he once said. "But when I die, as far as my so-called accomplishments go, it would be nice if 'Friends' were listed far behind the things I did to try to help other people."
Keep reading for more news …
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more fun celebrity & entertainment photo galleries and content
Parenting payout
Fatherhood doesn't come cheap. Al Pacino, 83, became a dad for the fourth time in June when his girlfriend — 29-year-old producer Noor Alfallah — welcomed their son, Roman. Now, a Los Angeles judge has ordered the "Scarface" star to pay Noor more than $30,000 a month in child support, Page Six reported on Nov. 2. Al was further ordered to fork over $110,000 before those monthly installments begin, the outlet noted, plus $13,000 to cover the cost of a "night nurse" and to make an annual $15,000 education fund deposit for the baby. The Oscar winner will also be responsible for paying "any medical bills outside of health insurance coverage," according to Page Six.
Despite the hefty payments, a rep for Al told the Huffington Post that he and Noor are still an item. The two share joint legal custody of their little one, but Noor has primary physical custody of Roman. Al, who also has three adult children, began dating Noor "sometime during the pandemic," Page Six reported last year.
MORE: Famous couples with big age gaps
Sober birthday
"Six years ago." That's how Jessica Simpson captioned a photo she shared on her Instagram Story on Nov. 2 to mark the sixth anniversary of the day she stopped drinking alcohol. She first posted the November 2017 snapshot — which shows her sitting alone in a pink sweatsuit wearing a downcast expression — two years ago, in honor of her four-year sobriety anniversary. At the time, she wrote that she'd come to see "an unrecognizable version of myself" in the image.
"I knew in this very moment I would allow myself to take back my light, show victory over my internal battle of self respect, and brave this world with piercing clarity," she captioned the image in part. "Personally, to do this I needed to stop drinking alcohol because it kept my mind and heart circling in the same direction and quite honestly I was exhausted. I wanted to feel the pain so I could carry it like a badge of honor."
"The drinking wasn't the issue. I was. I didn't love myself. I didn't respect my own power. Today I do," she concluded.
MORE: Follow Wonderwall on MSN for more fun celebrity & entertainment photo galleries and content
Stunt regrets
Sylvester Stallone is having second thoughts about his famous affection for doing his own stunts, he reveals in the new Netflix documentary "Sly." When the actor, now 77, was 62, he broke his neck on the set of "The Expendables." "Truthfully, I never fully recovered," Sly says in the doc, according to Insider. "It did such a number on my body, I've never been the same… Never," he added.
He initially kept the injury under wraps while the movie was still in production but later recounted the gruesome fight scene in which he fractured his neck to FHM magazine in 2010: "I had to have a very serious operation afterwards," he said of the "vicious" moment on set. "I now have a metal plate in my neck." In the same interview, he recalled having instructed Dolph Lundgren "to try to knock me out while the cameras were rolling" while shooting "Rocky IV." "At one point, he hit me so hard on the top of the head I felt my spine compress," Sly said. "He then hit me with an almighty uppercut. That night my chest and heart started to swell, and I had to be helicopter-ambulanced from my hotel to a nearby emergency room."
In "Sly," the action star said he's often wondered, "Was it really worth it? Are you doing this for people's approval? Really, that's almost like a child needing a pat on their head by their father. That's constant encouragement. But it's true."
Asked about Sly's stunts and injuries, his "Expendables" co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger said in the doc, "It's not uncommon for an action hero to get injured on set, but I think it is clear that Sly drove it to the extreme. I thought it was too much."
'Grooming' claims
Priscilla Presley is shedding new light on her once-controversial romance with Elvis Presley. The Presley family matriarch was just 14 in the early '60s when she started seeing The King, who was 24 at the time. But she's not convinced terms like "grooming" are applicable, despite the age gap. "It was a different time," she told Piers Morgan on the Nov. 2 edition of his "TalkTV" show, "Uncensored," according to "Entertainment Tonight."
Asked how she responds to those who claim Elvis acted in a predatory manner when she was a teen, Priscilla replied, "I don't know about grooming me, I didn't take it at that." Instead, she said Elvis appreciated her ability to listen at a time when he was mourning the death of his mother and angry at his father for moving on with someone new.
Piers suggested a musician would be "canceled" for pursuing a teenager in 2023.
"I understand," Priscilla replied. "But I was 14 in Germany and there was always people around. Our talks were, yes, private but he never, ever, ever was aggressive, nor did he ever make love to me." She added, "I was somehow, like I said earlier, someone he trusted to talk to and pour his heart out."
