Matthew Wright, executive producer of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” died Oct. 30 in an “unfathomable tragedy,” according to a GoFundMe campaign for his family. He was 52 years old.
“In an unfathomable tragedy, Matt Wright passed away on October 30 while working remotely in Los Angeles. His husband, father, sister and niece are in New York, desperate to be reunited for a proper goodbye. We are asking all of his friends, whom Matt loved so much, to help the family at this time. As many of you know, Matt and Justin were both laid off this summer. And the unexpected costs of getting Matt home, to the funeral and to the memorial ceremony are impossible for the family to bear,” the statement said. GoFundMe reads. “If Matt has ever made you laugh, said a word of encouragement just when you needed it, or ordered one appetizer too many for the whole table to enjoy, now is the time to return the favor. Please donate what you can and share it with everyone who has been in the orbit of Matt’s huge heart. And when you’re at dinner and you see a sunset, know that Matt is looking down, loving you, but being extremely disappointed with what you ordered.
DeGeneres posted a tearful video Monday, calling Wright “the glue to our entire family.” Wright had worked on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” from 2006 until its end in 2022.
“He was an amazing guy. He was funny. God, he made me laugh. He surprised me with the things he did all the time. He was smart. He was kind. He was part of our show that – I mean, everyone loved him. I loved him. And it’s just shocking – it’s shocking,” she said. “We will miss him. He is and always will be the glue that holds our entire ‘Ellen Show’ family together.”
Andy Lassner, executive producer of the “Ellen DeGeneres Show,” shared photos of him and Wright on the set of the “Jennifer Hudson Show,” taken Thursday, just “hours” before Wright’s death.
“We are all in shock. He was a brilliant producer and an even better human being,” Lassner wrote. “The way he cared for his mother, traveling back and forth from Los Angeles to New York virtually every weekend before her death, showed what an incredible son he was. He gave the same depth of love to his friendships. My heart breaks for his husband, Justin, his family and all of us who loved him. I was so lucky to work alongside Matt for so many years and call him my friend. We should have spent many years more time with him.”
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