{"id":904737,"date":"2026-11-03T19:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T19:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/904737\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T19:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T19:18:11","slug":"ellen-degeneres-late-producer-matthew-wrights-family-needs-help-returning-his-body-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/904737\/","title":{"rendered":"Ellen DeGeneres\u2019 late producer Matthew Wright’s family needs help returning his body home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matthew Wright, the former \u201cEllen DeGeneres Show\u201d producer who died Friday<\/a>, passed away in Los Angeles \u2014 and his family has issued a desperate plea for help bringing his body home.<\/p>\n

In the GoFundMe created Monday \u2014 with a $50,000 goal that has already been reached \u2014 Wright\u2019s loved ones noted that the 52-year-old died in Los Angeles on Friday.<\/p>\n

According to the fundraiser, \u201chis husband, father, sister and niece are in New York, desperate to be reunited for a proper goodbye.\u201d<\/p>\n

Late \u201cEllen DeGeneres Show\u201d producer Matthew Wright died in Los Angeles \u2014 and his family is \u201cdesperate\u201d to get his body to New York. matt wright\/ instagram<\/p>\n

The 52-year-old\u2019s loved ones (pictured above in July) want to be \u201creunited for a proper goodbye,\u201d according to the GoFundMe created Monday. matt wright\/ instagram<\/p>\n

The statement highlighted Wright and his husband Justin\u2019s recent layoffs over the summer, adding that \u201cthe unexpected costs of getting Matt home, a funeral and a memorial are impossible for the family to bear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wright\u2019s family continued, \u201cIf Matt has ever made you laugh, said an encouraging word right when you needed it, or ordered one too many appetizers for the enjoyment of the whole table, now is the time to repay the favor. Please donate what you can.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fundraiser made clear that the amount raised will go toward \u201cgetting Matt to Justin and Matt\u2019s Family,\u201d as well as covering New York funeral costs and Los Angeles memorial costs \u2014 while additional funds \u201cabove and beyond will be set up in a trust for Matt\u2019s pride and joy \u2014 his niece Sami.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and husband Justin (pictured above in 2020), notably, were both recently laid off from their jobs. matt wright\/ instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cThe unexpected costs of getting Matt home, a funeral and a memorial are impossible for the family to bear,\u201d the GoFundMe states. matt wright\/ instagram<\/p>\n

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Wright\u2019s cause of death is not yet known, but his family wrote that he died of an \u201cunfathomable tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly 400 people have donated to the cause as of Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

Andy Lassner, the former talk show\u2019s executive producer, donated $1,000 to the fundraiser.<\/p>\n

DeGeneres donated $5,000 to the cause. Ellen<\/p>\n

She tearfully announced Wright\u2019s death via Instagram on Monday. Instagram\/ellendegeneres<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Allison Holker, the widow of the show\u2019s late DJ, Stephen \u201ctWitch\u201d Boss\u2019 widow, contributed $500.<\/p>\n

As for Ellen DeGeneres, who worked with Wright for 16 years on her talk show, the comedian donated $5,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A slew of social media users raged against the amount as a \u201cslap in the face,\u201d while others have speculated she \u201cprivately\u201d contributed more.<\/p>\n

DeGeneres mourned Wright in a tearful Instagram video posted Monday.<\/p>\n

DeGeneres cried mourning the \u201cgood guy.\u201d Instagram\/ellendegeneres<\/p>\n

Wright (pictured above in July) and DeGeneres worked together for 16 years. matt wright\/ instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cGod, he was an amazing guy,\u201d she said in the emotional upload. \u201cHe made me laugh, he would surprise me with things he did all the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was smart, he was kind,\u201d DeGeneres continued. \u201cI mean, everyone loved him. I loved him. And it\u2019s just shocking, it\u2019s shocking.\u201d<\/p>\n

She shared clips of moments Wright appeared in front of the camera with her social media followers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matthew Wright, the former \u201cEllen DeGeneres Show\u201d producer who died Friday, passed away in Los Angeles \u2014 and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":904738,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,7569,91,7753,88,2596,92],"class_list":["post-904737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-celebrity-deaths","tag-celebrity-news","tag-ellen-degeneres","tag-entertainment","tag-gofundme","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}