14 DAY TRIAL // Matt LeBlanc, known mostly for his Joey role on the long-running and very successful US sitcom “Friends,” got into a scuffle with some media representatives the other night for calling him by his character’s name.
The actor, Mirror’s 3AM notes, was out clubbing in London when the incident occurred, after he had one too many drinks to be able to control his flammable temper.
At one point during the night, Matt – who was presumably intoxicated – stumbled and knocked into the table where the 3AM party was seated.
It was a good time for a joke, they thought – a la Friends. “You all right, Joey? How YOU do-in?” they asked him.
To their surprise, Matt verbally lashed out at them, trying to make them see that he wasn’t Joey, he was, well, Matt.
“I’m not Joey. Don’t you dare call me Joey. The papers say I’m finished, so don’t call me [expletive]-ing Joey. I want to leave that all behind. I’m moving on,” the actor reportedly told them.
At this point, anyone would have probably let this be – but not these guys, who continued pressing (and provoking) the actor by repeatedly addressing him as if he really was Joey.
“OK, Joey, if that’s how you feel. But what are you doing? Let’s be honest, Joey, that’s who everyone knows you as,” they told him.
“I’m not Joey. For the last time. I’m not [expletive]-ing Joey. It’s Matt. Matt LeBlanc. Joey’s in the past. I’m trying to do something new,” the actor fought back.
“Like what, Joey?” they asked, pushing even more before LeBlanc’s handlers would sweep in and end the scuffle.
“I’m gonna do comedy. Working with the Friends producers to do comedy in England. And it’s got nothing to do with Joey before you ask,” Matt said.
He was then taken away by his handlers, but the Mirror people had already gotten their satisfaction by then.