When Matt Wright stopped by the set of The Jennifer Hudson Show last week, he was there to see an old friend. Andy Lassner, who worked with Wright for years on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, shared photos of that visit on Sunday. Lassner said he had seen Wright only hours before his death. Wright, a longtime producer on Ellen, died Friday, October 30, at 52. Andy Lassner’s tribute · E! News

File photo of Ellen DeGeneres in Los Angeles in 2004. Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 · Cropped.

What Andy Lassner remembered about Matt Wright

Lassner wrote about a friend who put real time into caring for the people he loved. He remembered Wright flying between Los Angeles and New York almost every weekend to see his mother before she died. It was the kind of detail that gets left out of a television credit and helps explain why his former colleagues have been talking so much about the person they worked beside. TheWrap’s account of Lassner’s post

The setting for their reunion also tells a small story about where both producers went after Ellen ended. The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ 2025 Daytime Emmy nomination credits list Lassner as an executive producer on The Jennifer Hudson Show and Wright as a senior supervising producer on The Drew Barrymore Show. Both programs were up for outstanding daytime talk series. Years earlier, they had shared credits on the same show. 2025 Daytime Emmy nomination credits

How Ellen DeGeneres paid tribute

DeGeneres posted her own video on Monday, November 2. She recalled Wright’s ability to surprise her and make her laugh, then shared a montage that included his recurring Strong Opinions With Matt appearances. The segment gave an off-camera producer a place to air his grievances about ordinary things, including pillows and eating out. DeGeneres also said the two had been planning to work together again. Ellen DeGeneres’ video tribute · TheWrap’s report on the video · Taken Social’s original report

What has been confirmed about Wright’s death?

A public announcement posted by friends on behalf of Wright’s family says he died October 30 while working remotely in Los Angeles. A cause of death had not been publicly disclosed as of November 2. The organizers said the fundraiser would help bring Wright home and cover a funeral in New York and a memorial in Los Angeles. The public family announcement