Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman is urging fans to remember Matthew Perry for his legacy and not for his tragic passing due to an accidental drug overdose.
Matthew Perry Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Images
Kauffman, who created the hit sitcom with David Crane, shared her thoughts on Perry’s passing in an interview.
“He is the one I had the most contact with. About two weeks before [he died] he and I were FaceTiming and he seemed really good,” Kauffman said. “Two things come to mind [about how to celebrate him]: one of them is to donate to drug treatment centers — let’s fight the disease. And the second way is to watch Friends and remember him not as a man who died like that but as a man who was hilariously funny and brought joy to everybody.”
Perry, who played the lovable but troubled Chandler Bing on Friends, passed away at the age of 54 due to an accidental overdose of ketamine.
Celebrities like Matthew Perry, Chrissy Teigen, and others have been open about using ketamine infusion therapy to help treat mental health conditions. According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), ketamine is a “dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects” and “can induce a state of sedation, immobility, relief from pain, and amnesia.” It […]
Five people, including Perry’s former personal assistant Kenneth Iwamasa, have been charged in connection with his death, including Iwamasa, Erik Fleming, Jasveen Sangha (a.k.a. “the Ketamine Queen”), Dr. Mark Chavez, and Dr. Salvador Plasencia.
The cast of “Friends” in 1996. Getty Images
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California Martin Estrada stated that the defendants took advantage of Perry’s addiction issues to enrich themselves, adding that they knew what they were doing was wrong and risky.
A source close to Perry told Us Weekly that his friends and family were “blindsided” and “saddened” by Iwamasa’s arrest, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute ketamine. “Matthew kept secrets,” the insider said. “I wouldn’t be shocked if Kenny was the only one who knew how bad it really was.”
The plea agreement stated that Iwamasa injected Perry with “approximately 6-8 shots” of ketamine every day and had found Perry “unconscious at his residence on at least two occasions” throughout October 2023.
Two months after Matthew Perry died at age 54 in October 2023, his death was ruled an accident. That ruling proved to be far from the end of the story. A December 2023 toxicology report concluded that Perry died from “the acute effects of ketamine.” The report noted that Perry had been receiving regular ketamine […]
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.