Heartbreaking truths emerge about the late ‘Friends’ actor Matthew Perry, grappling with addiction and a life overshadowed by deceit.
A friend of the late actor Matthew Perry has revealed that he “was never clean and lied about being sober” before his tragic death in October.
The star, who donned the role of Chandler Bing on the hit sitcom ‘Friends’, was found dead in his hot tub at his Los Angeles home at the age of 54. His death was ruled an accident by the medical examiner, who cited drowning, heart disease, and buprenorphine (a drug used to treat opioid addiction) as contributing factors.
No evidence of any injuries or foul play
The autopsy report revealed that Matthew had high levels of ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, in his blood at the time of his death. The report said that ketamine can cause both heart problems and breathing difficulties, which could have led to Matthew losing consciousness and drowning.
Matthew had struggled with addiction for years and had been open about his issues with drugs and alcohol. He had been addicted to Vicodin, a painkiller, and had gone through a detox program in 1997. He had also confessed to Diane Sawyer in an interview that he used to take 55 Vicodin pills a day.
“I should have been the toast of the town, but I was in a dark room meeting with nothing but drug dealers and completely alone,” he said.
Ketamine was a ‘giant happy shovel’
In his memoir, which was published a year before his death, the Friends star wrote about his experience with ketamine, which he had tried as a treatment for his addiction at a Swiss clinic during the pandemic. He said that ketamine had his name “written all over it” and that it made him feel like a “giant exhale”. He described how he received the infusions while wearing a blindfold and listening to music.
Matthew also wrote that ketamine made him feel like he was “dying”. He said in his book, “‘Oh,’ I thought, ‘This is what happens when you die’.”
“Yet I would continually sign up for this st because it was something different, and anything different is good.”
“Taking K is like being hit in the head with a giant happy shovel. But the hangover was rough and outweighed the shovel. Ketamine was not for me,” he concluded.
A friend of Matthew quoted to MailOnline that he had lied to everyone about being clean and that he was never sober.
“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,” they said.
They also said that Matthew was “manipulative” when it came to his addiction and that it was a constant “struggle” and “such a battle” for him.
Disclaimer: Except the headline and synopsis, this story has been taken from the HT News Service.