Who is Matt LeBlanc’s father? Actor hasn’t spoken to dad Paul LeBlanc in NINE years after a petty fight
Paul LeBlanc -- father of ‘Friends’ star Matt LeBlanc -- has said that the actor has not spoken to him in nine years. The old man claimed that he was cut off financially by his star son over money issues. He also noted that he re-watches ‘Friends’ to feel connected with his son.
“I’ve been living without any contact for nine years and it is still hard to believe what has happened. I’ve been cut off and locked out of my house over a humiliating argument about money and a motorbike. I’m an old man now and I live off social security. If it wasn’t for my savings, I wouldn’t be able to survive,” the 79-year-old told The Sun.
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He continued, “But I never hear from Matt and he’s only sent me one birthday card in my entire life. I’ve sent him text messages including one this year asking if we can get back in touch, but he has totally ignored me. It’s humiliating. But the truth is Matt has always been a mother’s boy and there have been so many fallings out. We are all getting older. My message to Matt is, ‘You need to get your act together before it is too late. You’re going to miss me when I’m gone.’ ”
The hit sitcom with all its cast members is coming back for a reunion after 17 years. While the show's fans are excited to watch it, Paul won’t be able to since he cannot afford cable television. The Vietnam War veteran said: “I only have one TV channel so I won’t be watching the reunion. I can’t figure out what all the fuss is. I’ve always thought Friends was a silly show for young people.”
According to reports, Matt who was raised by his mother Patricia in the suburban town of Newton, Massachusetts, wanted to be a model but eventually ended up being an actor. Paul said, “He never really had dreams of being an actor growing up. It just kind of happened. Matt met some girl in New York who was going to read for a part and she asked him to come along. He said, ‘Yeah’, and he read for the part with her and wound up with a contract.”
The father of the co-host of BBC’s ‘Top Gear’ believes fame and fortune have had an adverse effects on his son as he stated, “Matt went wild when he was younger, as young kids with some money do. But we used to be close despite it all and I moved out to Malibu when he was starring on Friends so I could see more of him. The problem is that when someone has money, you don’t get into their lifestyle unless they want you there, and they can shut you down. Matt is erratic with me and he has a short temper. One minute he is nice, the next he is cutting your throat — not literally obviously.”
However, it’s not like the father-son relationship was always strained since, in the late 90s, Matt got a dream home for his father in a mountain village in Colorado and also gave him an allowance. “He visited me and we would hang out drinking beers and messing around on bikes. That was a good time, but Matt is obsessed with acting. The last time he came out to see me was in 2011,” Paul said, who added that in 2012, he gave one of his bikes to his nephew, which apparently made Matt very angry.
The father said, “I’d had a bad accident — it was a miracle I survived — so I gave all five of my bikes away. It’s none of his business if I give a bike away, but Matt wouldn’t hear it. He was so angry. He told me, ‘I’m shutting your allowance off’. He probably thought I’d beg for him to turn it on, but it will be a cold day in hell before that happens. You should ask him why he got annoyed on that. I don’t understand it. I’ve spent the last nine years thinking about it and I still find it unbelievable. He just cut me off,” as he added, “Matt doesn’t respond to my texts but I still try. I want to have some kind of a relationship with them before I wind up on my deathbed.”
Meanwhile, Matt’s spokeswoman said, “To put this in perspective, Matt’s father abandoned Matt and his mother when he was an infant.”