Sarah Paulson is recalling an "awkward" moment in which Mathew Perry refused to kiss her at a makeout party.
It was early on in her career and the "American Horror" star had been dragged to the event by the late Carrie Fisher.
"She asked me if I wanted to go to Gore Vidal's makeout party," Paulson said on Monday's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! "All these people were there and I was, obviously, panicked."
The actress explained that there was a hat containing the names of the party guests. Attendees were required to kiss whoever's name they drew. When it came to Perry's turn, he pulled Paulson's name from the hat.
"[He] promptly left the room," the 46-year-old said. "I was like, 'Well, let’s kiss!' And he was like, 'No.'"
Paulson explained that she knew Perry through a mutual friend, and although the moment was "awkward," there were no hard feelings when they ended up playing romantic partners years later in the show, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" in 2006.
"I got my kiss," Paulson said. "I got several kisses, and boy, did he regret not taking me up on it back at Gore Vidal’s makeout party."
Perry has consistently been in the headlines over the past few weeks. Most recently, Perry announced that he had split with fiancée Molly Hurwitz months after they revealed their engagement.
"Sometimes things just don't work out and this is one of them," Perry shared in a short statement to People. "I wish Molly the best."
The actor's appearance on the "Friends" reunion special also sparked concerns that he had relapsed back into drugs and alcohol after he appeared to slur his words during the show. A source later told The Sun that his labored speech was due to an emergency tooth procedure he had undergone the same day of the reunion.
"That was said to impact his wellbeing and also how he was feeling. He had been in pain from what we understand, which caused the slurred speech," the insider said.
"Friends" Reunion director Ben Winston also defended Perry during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
"People can sometimes just be unkind. I wish they weren’t. I loved working with him," Winston said. "He’s a brilliantly funny man and I thought he had some great one-liners in the show. I felt just happy and lucky to be in his presence and directing him on something like this."
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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