“Friends” star Matthew Perry passed away at the age of 54 due to a ketamine overdose last month, and reportedly never achieved sobriety.
In his 2022 memoir, which became a bestseller, Perry claimed that he had conquered his addictions through the assistance of a sober coach and a dear friend.
Contradicting this, an anonymous close friend of Perry revealed: “He lied to everyone about being clean. He never was. It is very sad. You know, the biggest lie he told was probably to himself.”
The source added: “He could be quite a manipulative person when it came to his struggles with using, but it was such a struggle, such a battle, and he battled every day to the end.”
An autopsy report released on Friday confirmed Perry’s cause of death as the acute effects of ketamine and drowning, with ketamine levels comparable to those in a patient under general anesthesia.
“The County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner determined the cause of death for 54-year-old actor Matthew Langford Perry as the acute effects of ketamine,’ the Los Angeles coroner’s office said on Friday.”
“Contributing factors in Mr Perry’s death include drowning, coronary artery disease, and the effects of buprenorphine (used to treat opioid use disorder). The manner of death is accident.”
Perry was found unresponsive in his jacuzzi at his Los Angeles home on October 28 at 4:17pm.
The medical examiner noted that Perry had been undergoing ketamine infusion therapy for depression, but the last session was over a week before his death. The ketamine in his system was not directly linked to his death.
Dr. Raffi Djabourian, the medical examiner, concluded “At the high levels of ketamine found in his postmortem blood specimens, the main lethal effects would be from both cardiovascular overstimulation and respiratory depression.”
Perry, a year before his death, released a memoir detailing his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. Despite claiming 18 months of sobriety in October 2022, Perry’s death occurred a year later.
Athenna Crosby, an entertainment reporter, had lunch with Perry the day before his death and observed his commitment to sobriety, as he avoided even holding a wine menu.
Perry disclosed spending $9 million on sobriety efforts, including attending 6,000 AA meetings, 15 rehab stints, and undergoing detox 65 times. At one point, he was consuming 55 Vicodin daily.
In 2021, Perry claimed to have conquered his addiction and was living a healthier life, taking up pickleball, a sport combining elements of tennis and table tennis, playing it twice daily.
Morgan Moses, known in Perry’s book as ‘Erin,’ met him at a rehab facility and developed a close, decade-long friendship with him, marked by a deep but platonic bond.
Moses, 37, has been a full-time sober companion since 2018, with skills in therapeutic crisis intervention, mental health first aid, behavioral intervention, and nutritional counseling.
When Perry’s home was investigated, no illegal drugs were found, only properly labeled and stored prescription medication.
Perry’s autopsy revealed signs of long-term drug and alcohol abuse, including chronic liver and kidney conditions, as well as pancreatic fibrosis. His heart and lungs were significantly damaged, and he was mildly obese at 216lbs.
In his memoir, Perry detailed turning to street dealers for stronger pain medication following a colon explosion in 2018, often spending thousands weekly on potentially fatal, fentanyl-laced OxyContin.
