Former ‘SNL’ Writer Mocks Matthew Perry’s Death: “Am I Trending Yet?”
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A former writer for Saturday Night Live has posted tweets mocking Matthew Perry’s death.
Podcaster Kevin Brennan tweeted a story covering the former Friends star’s passing and wrote, “DROWNED IN A HOT TUB. HAHAHAHA.”
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The 63-year-old comedian — who wrote for just one season of SNL in 1999 — further said about the beloved actor who starred in 10 seasons of one of the most successful TV shows of all time: “I didn’t mock it. I just thought it was funny. But I do love it when junkies die.” He then explained drowning in a hot tub is funny “because it’s not very deep.” When roundly slammed for his comments, he asked, “Am I trending yet?”
Brennan is the brother of Chappelle’s Show co-creator Neal Brennan, whom he reportedly often trashes on his podcast while similarly putting down other successful comedians.
TMZ first reported Brennan’s tweets Sunday and noted that his account has only about 5,900 followers. As of Monday morning, Brennan had seemingly gained a couple hundred more.
Reactions to the tweets were what you might expect. An assortment (of the non-profane ones): “I will never understand the mindset of someone who posts shit like this. I wish you well bc you must be sick … This is so sad and mean. Everyone knew Matthew struggled with addiction and he did his best to reach out for help many times. Kevin Brennan should be black listed and never hired as a writer ever again for speaking condescending about a dead actor … I never knew he existed, but now we know he was just a worthless evil little tool.”
Over the weekend, SNL — which was hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze — featured a special tribute card for Perry at the end of Saturday’s show.
The 54-year-old Perry died Saturday at his Los Angeles home. Authorities responded around 4 p.m. to his residence, where he was discovered unresponsive, they said. The L.A. coroner’s office has not established the cause of death yet.
While Perry had achieved massive success as part of Friends, one of the most popular shows of all time, he also battled substance abuse for decades.
Following the news of his death, Friends producers Marta Kauffman, David Crane and Kevin Bright said in a joint statement to THR: “It still seems impossible. All we can say is that we feel blessed to have had him as part of our lives. He was a brilliant talent. It’s a cliche to say that an actor makes a role their own, but in Matthew’s case, there are no truer words. From the day we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, there was no one else for us. We will always cherish the joy, the light, the blinding intelligence he brought to every moment — not just to his work, but in life as well.”
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