Key Takeaways
Briana Brancato is the former personal assistant of Matthew Perry, the famous “Friends” actor, who recently passed away prematurely on October 28, 2023.
Perry, who was just 54 years old, passed away apparently by drowning in his hot tub at his sprawling residence at Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles. Best remembered and loved for playing the role of Chandler Bing in the globally hit sitcom “Friends” that has become a cult favorite across generations, Matthew Perry was also known for his comedic genius and humanitarian endeavors in real life.
Matthew was found unresponsive in his Jacuzzi by his current assistant, who then called the Los Angeles Police Department to the scene, who checked and pronounced him dead. After an autopsy and further investigations, chances of foul play were ruled out and no drugs were found. While we do not know who Perry’s current assistant is, we know that his former assistant was Briana Brancato who recently quit her role to pursue her ambition of becoming a personal fitness trainer. Brancato shared a long and heartfelt post on Instagram, paying tribute to her former boss Matthew Perry. She wrote that her “heart is heavy” with grief at the news of his death but celebrating her memories with him will be the deepest and best way to honor Matthew’s legacy.
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Matthew Perry’s Personal Assistant Briana Brancato
Briana Brancato, who is 34 years old, was Matthew Perry’s personal assistant for 7 years, starting from 2015 to 2023. In Perry’s memoir launched in 2022, “Friends, Lovers, And The Big Terrible Thing”, he said that Briana had saved his life when he was at a rehab center and almost died rupturing his colon from opioid abuse.
Name: | Briana Brancato |
Profession: | Personal assistant, chief of staff and estate management to A-list celebrity |
Birthdate: | September 1989 |
Age: | 34 Years (In 2023) |
Birth Place: | New York, USA |
Currently Lives: | Simi Valley, California, United States |
Nationality: | American |
Instagram: | @brianabrancato |
He wrote how Brancato saved him when his internal organs were ruptured and stayed with him overnight when he was at the hospital for 5 months as he recuperated from surgery. Since that time, they became the closest of friends and Matthew regarded her as his best friend in the whole world as well as his trusted confidante.
As per her LinkedIn profile, Briana Brancato is a full-time employee of Phil Shubano Inc. and a “personal assistant, chief of staff and estate management to A-list celebrity“. Her profile also states that she has acquired ample experience in organizational skills and detail-oriented management and continues to support people in the maintenance of their homes, properties, and lifestyles.
In his memoir, Matthew Perry talked about how he met Briana Brancato during his 5-month rehab stay and how she never left him alone in his toughest times, though nothing romantic ever bloomed. He had also met her a couple of years earlier when he was in another rehab and she used to work there. When Matthew saw how wonderful she was with everyone and everything, he made her his assistant, and she grew into his best friend.
Towards the end of his memoir, Perry also wrote about Briana that he does not know what he would do without her.
What Is Her Relationship With Matthew Perry?
Once, in an interview, Matthew Perry said that after his death, he would like to be remembered as a good-hearted person who helped people. His wish has come true as fans, followers, friends, and everyone else have been sharing tributes and posts about how wonderful he was as a person. Everyone keeps talking about how he changed so many lives all over the world just by openly sharing his struggles with substance abuse or by playing the beloved character of Chandler Bing in “Friends” unknowingly touching millions of lives all over the world.
Even Briana Brancato, his ex-personal assistant wrote in her tribute, about how Matthew Perry had changed her life by being her boss for 7 long years. She said that she had frequently expressed her deepest gratitude to him, not only for helping her realize her true ambition in life and pursue it but also for letting her take care of him. She shared several photos of her and the beloved actor, and mentioned how Matthew had taken her along on a “remarkable journey” with him all over the world and made her a part of his “worldly adventures” and “countless experiences”.
Apart from witnessing him in his genius to being a part of his adventures living all around the world, she also cherishes how Matthew supported her in choosing a career that she genuinely cherishes. In her lengthy tribute to her ex-boss, the dearly beloved Matthew Perry aka Chandler Bing, she said that she hopes that “Mattman is sending us signs” because we all truly need them. She ended her post by saying that he will forever be in her heart and included a broken heart and dove emoji.
Perry’s untimely death has shocked people around the world and devastated his friends and costars from “Friends” who are also mourning their beloved friend and actor.