Valerie Bertinelli Isn't Proud Of Matthew Perry's Confession About Their Past
Matthew Perry isn't holding anything back in his new memoir ... and now he's opening up about the time he got very friendly with a sitcom co-star.
In "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing," Perry explores his experiences on the sets of various sitcoms throughout the 90s. Before he gained fame as Chandler Bing on "Friends," he appeared alongside Valerie Bertinelli in a series called "Sydney." In an excerpt of the book (via Entertainment Weekly), Perry describes his massive crush on his co-star, whom he characterized as being "in a troubled marriage" with rockstar Eddie Van Halen.
Sparing no details, the actor shared his relentless pursuit of Bertinelli, which eventually ended in a drunken "elaborate makeout session" — just feet away from her passed-out husband. Fans were shocked, taking to Twitter to write, "Does he think he is being funny? He is being hurtful." After the internet began bashing the actions of both stars, Bertinelli herself reacted to the juicy excerpt.
Valerie Bertinelli spoke out on TikTok
After the backlash began, Valerie Bertinelli took to TikTok to address the controversy in the most trendy, funny way possible. Using viral audio from Taylor Swift's recent release, "Anti-Hero," Bertinelli waved over the background sound, "It's me! Hi! I'm the problem, it's me." In text over the video, she wrote, "Anyone misbehave in their 20's and early 30's? Are you mortified?" Her embarrassment seemed to allude to Matthew Perry's confession, but fans in the comments had her back. "I saw the Matthew story this morning," one top commenter wrote. "You left a impression girl!! Good on ya!" Others shared that they were grateful there were no digital cameras to document their misbehavior during that time in their life.
Unfortunately, Perry's memory seemed to have kept careful record. As People recapped, Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen were married for more than two decades before separating in 2001. At the time that Perry declared the pair's marriage was clearly "troubled," they were many years away from divorce.
Perry's reveal also seemed especially ill-timed given the somewhat recent death of Eddie Van Halen. One Twitter user noted that alienating fans of a "beloved guitarist" isn't a very good strategy for selling books: "Could he BE any worse at making Friends?"
Eddie Van Halen died in 2020
Despite their 2000s split, Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen remained close — and their love story continued to be one for the ages. As it turns out, Matthew Perry isn't the only star who can write a celebrity memoir about the couple. In her book "Enough Already: Learning to Love the Way I Am Today," she reflected on her last conversation with Van Halen as he was dying of cancer. "Maybe next time. Maybe next time, we'll get it right," Bertinelli said (via People).
The rockstar ultimately died in October 2020, but Bertinelli's love for him lives on. "I loved Ed more than I know how to explain," she said. "I loved his soul." And, the feeling was mutual. "'I love you' are the last words Ed says to Wolfie and me," she recalled. "And they are the last words we say to him before he stops breathing."
In an excerpt obtained by Billboard, Bertinelli offered even more details. "There's nothing sexual about it. It was more than that. And Ed and I understood that," she said. Now, some feel that Perry's statement may have tarnished the legendary love story of the couple ... and Bertinelli isn't the only star he's called out.
Matthew Perry also took aim at Keanu Reeves
Shockingly, talking about his interference in a famous marriage isn't the most jarring thing in Matthew Perry's memoir. In an excerpt reported on by Variety, Perry discusses the many losses the acting world has suffered, such as the death of River Phoenix. He noted that the actor — who was once Perry's co-star and good friend — was "a beautiful man, inside and out," but also bizarrely lamented the fact that the wrong people seem to be dying.
"Why is it that the original thinkers like River Phoenix and Heath Ledger die, but Keanu Reeves still walks among us?" he wrote. He made a similar reference when speaking about the loss of Chris Farley. "Keanu Reeves walks among us," he reiterated.
The internet was quick to take Reeves' side. "In a world full of Matthew Perry's..." one user tweeted. "Be a Keanu Reeves." Another pointed out the senselessness of the slight: "I'm nominating Matthew Perry for Unforced Error of the Year." Perry did ultimately issue an apology via People, but it left something to be desired. "I'm actually a big fan of Keanu. I just chose a random name, my mistake," he said. "I should have used my own name instead."